BLOOMINGTON – IU basketball landed a commitment from one of the top players in the transfer portal Tuesday, when Arizona center Oumar Ballo announced his decision to transfer to IU via social media.

One of the best rebounders in the country across the past two seasons, Ballo averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds last season (and 14.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg the year before that) at Arizona. He’s never finished with a single-season field goal percentage lower than 62.2%, and he helped anchor offenses in Tucson that ranked among the most efficient in the country across the past three seasons.

Insider:What landing nation's No. 1 transfer Oumar Ballo means for IU, Mike Woodson

IU transfer portal hot board 2.0:Priority positions, names to know

Ballo is On3.com's top-ranked available player in the transfer portal. (Stanford's Maxime Raynaud was rated No. 1 but is headed back to Palo Alto).

In efficiency terms, Ballo dominated the Pac-12 in the post last season. He finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate and 2-point field goal percentage. Ballo only failed to scored in double figures five times in 36 games last winter.

He fills a need at the five spot for Indiana, with Kel’el Ware bound for the NBA draft. Woodson has always valued a strong finisher who could dominate opponents at both rims, and in Ballo, he might have his best defensive presence yet.

This offseason, IU has already added Pac-12 Freshman of the Year point guard Myles Rice (No. 17-ranked player in portal) and five-star forward McDonald's All American Bryson Tucker this offseason.

Mike Woodson has four more open scholarships for the 2024-25 roster and this Little 500 weekend will be another important one with visitors lined up. Bloomington South grad and Bradley transfer Connor Hickman, who visited IU on Sunday, committed to Cincinnati on Monday.

Oumar Ballo highlights

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

Indiana made another big addition to its transfer class on Tuesday, when coveted center Oumar Ballo committed to the Hoosiers. Ballo is the No. 9 player in the CBS Sports transfer rankings after earning all-conference honors at Arizona each of the past two seasons. The 7-foot bruiser began his career at Gonzaga and has one season left to play.

He will be critical in replacing the production void left by Kel'el Ware, a 7-footer who declared for the NBA Draft after leading Indiana in scoring, rebounding and blocks during a breakout sophomore season. Ballo should pair well with junior power forward Malik Reneau to give IU one of the Big Ten's top frontcourts next season.

The upcoming campaign is critical for coach Mike Woodson after the Hoosiers missed the NCAA Tournament with a 19-14 record in 2024. Woodson, who is entering his fourth season, is enjoying a strong portal cycle thus far after also landing a commitment from 2023-24 Pac-12 Rookie of the Year Myles Rice over the weekend.

Ranked the No. 26 player of the offseason, Rice will bring a much-needed upgrade to IU's backcourt, while Ballo will bring heft to the interior. Unlike Ware, who was slight of frame and able to stretch the floor as a shooter, Ballo does essentially all of his work near the rim.

Oumar Ballo scouting report

Ballo averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in 26 minutes per contest for Arizona this past season while hitting 65.8% of his shots from the field. His sheer size is a problem for most opponents. Though Ballo logged significant playing time in an up-tempo system at Arizona, which is a testament to his conditioning, he's not particularly agile. Instead, 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein described Ballo as a "monster in the paint."

"He has a huge frame that is as powerful as it is large, and he knows how to use it," Finkelstein wrote. "Ballo excels at getting deep post position. He's extremely physical prior to the catch, both by ducking in hard to seal defenders under the rim and pushing them up the lane when he's fronted. If they play behind him in the post, he looks to bully them with his dribble to get to point blank range. While Ballo lacks an overly refined post-game when he isn't able to get deep real estate, he does possess good hands and solid footwork. He's an emphatic dunker who virtually rips the rim down at every opportunity. He also puts a ton of pressure on the rim rolling off ball-screens, virtually running to the rim to create maximum separation from the ball-handler."

Rattlesnakes are out and about in Arizona and some are more difficult to spot than others.

Can you spot the rattlesnake in the accompanying images? (Bonus points if you can ID the species.)

These were questions posed Monday to social-media followers of Rattlesnake Solutions, headquartered in Phoenix and Tucson.

“What did Dave find at this home near Tucson?” the company asked via Facebook. “This one is very hard. In fact, the first person to correctly identify it gets a free RS t-shirt.”

(The snake’s location is revealed at the bottom of this post.)

Spotting the snake is difficult, but identifying the species would seem impossible for anyone but an expert, given how well the snake is hiding.

However, a follower named Loren correctly identified the reptile as a Mojave rattlesnake soon after the post was published.

Many were stumped, including a follower named Jill, who commented: “I so wanted to say he found a Packrat’s nest in that yard, but I’m sure there’s a snake in there somewhere. Probably a Diamondback but my eyes just are not that good.”

Some spotted the snake and guessed western diamondback as the species, which is not surprising.

The Mojave rattlesnake is nicknamed “the Mojave Green” because of a greenish tinge that helps experts distinguish it from the western diamondback.

Rattlesnake Solutions states on its website:

“This snake has a reputation of being an overly dangerous snake, as it is quick to become defensive and has a powerful neurotoxin in many parts of its range. These snakes should always be avoided if seen.”

The Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument described the Mojave rattlesnake as “the most venomous snake found on the monument” and added:

“The venom, potent in neurotoxins that attack the nervous system and hemotoxins that attack the blood should make this snake high on anyone’s list to avoid.”

The rattlesnake relocated from Dave’s yard is circled above.

Sometimes all it takes is a second chance. Former South Carolina Gamecock Sahnya Jah will get that at Arizona. The 6-foot-1 forward announced her commitment to the Wildcats on social media Monday afternoon.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sahnya jah (@iam_thesahnyajah)

Jah was the 40th-ranked player in the class of 2023 according to ESPN HoopGurlz and was WBCA All-America honorable mention her senior year. The Alexandria, VA native spent her first three seasons playing at Bishop McNamara in Maryland. She transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida her senior season where she helped the team claim the 2023 GEICO High School National Championship.

Jah appeared in 16 games for the eventual national champions last season. She averaged 3.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game.

Jah ran into problems with head coach Dawn Staley in February, though. She was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team on Feb. 8, although Staley said she could work her way back onto the team. Instead, she entered the transfer portal when it opened in March.

“It is unfortunate that her time with us was short, but we wish her the best in the next steps of her career,” Staley said in a statement that was quoted by the Associated Press.

It is not the first time Arizona head coach Adia Barnes has taken in a player who had difficulty with her coach at a previous stop. A case in point was former starting point guard Shaina Pellington, who left Oklahoma after her sophomore season, who Barnes felt did a lot of growing up and changing while at Arizona. Barnes has also noted that former Arizona forward Trinity Baptiste did not have “the perfect reputation” when she came to Tucson, but taking her turned into one of the coach’s best decisions.

In early February, Barnes talked about her process with transfers these days. She said because of previous misjudgments, she now goes further back into their past, evaluating families and even high school relationships.

“You have to, now for sure,” Barnes said. “You always did that with high school kids. With transfers, it’s different now after my experience. Now, I’m like Private Eye Barnes. Now, I’m calling the high school coach. Even if they’re three years out, I still do that, because I had a situation where I was like, ‘Gosh!’ It was a bad misjudgment on someone who I thought was awesome. So because of that, I do it.”

Esmery Martinez and Helena Pueyo didn’t just get drafted to the WNBA. They got drafted by teams that have played in the last two league finals.

Martinez heard her name called as the 17th overall pick (5th in the 2nd round) by the New York Libery, which lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA Finals. Pueyo was not far behind, getting called as the 22nd overall pick (10th in the 2nd round) by the Connecticut Sun, who lost to the Aces in the 2022 WNBA Finals.

Martinez will join former Pac-12 stars Sabrina Ionescu, Kennedy Burke, and Nyara Sabally as well as perennial MVP candidate Breanna Stewart in New York. The 6-foot-2 forward is a ferocious rebounder who worked to increase her range and handles in hopes of playing the three as a professional.

Dreams to reality ✨@martinez_smeri has been drafted by the New York Liberty with the 17th pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft!#MadeForIt x #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/sqABfpoVV2

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) April 16, 2024

Pueyo is the prototypical team player who prefers to defend and dish but can score when pressed to do so. She will join fellow Spanish player Astou Ndour Fall on the Sun.

Steals Queen turns pro @Helena_Pueyo6 has been drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the 22nd pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft!#MadeForIt x #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/sLwTRGDPbu

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) April 16, 2024

It was the first time Arizona had two players taken in the same draft since 2021 when Aari McDonald was drafted by the Atlanta Dream and Trinity Baptiste went to the Indiana Fever. McDonald went third that year. Baptiste was drafted 24th. Pueyo played with McDonald and Baptiste on the Arizona team that lost in the 2021 national finals to Stanford.

Martinez and Pueyo become the 12th and 13th players drafted into the WNBA out of Arizona.

WNBA training camp begins on April 28. Preseason games begin shortly after on May 3. Final roster cuts come on May 13 ahead of the season’s start on May 14.