‘Super proud of him.’ Three years removed from Gonzaga departure, Oumar Ballo reunites with Anton Watson, ex-teammates

SALT LAKE CITY – Although one of them came to Gonzaga from a high school right down the street, and the other from a third-world country on the opposite side of the globe, Anton Watson and Oumar Ballo went through similar growing pains together as freshmen in 2019-20.

From promising recruits who’ve had to navigate through difficult circumstances to fifth-year seniors and program staples leading their respective schools back to the NCAA Tournament, Watson and Ballo, perhaps more than anyone, can appreciate the importance of hard work and patience.

After sparring on a daily basis for one year at Gonzaga, Watson and Ballo see much less of one another these days, but the former teammates are still close friends who’ve been happy to see one another succeed at the highest level of college basketball.

On Tuesday, they told each other that in person.

With the Selection Committee sending second-seeded Arizona and fifth-seeded Gonzaga to the same site for this week’s NCAA Tournament, Watson and Ballo reconnected on Tuesday upon arriving in Salt Lake City from Spokane and Tucson, Arizona.

“I’ve got so much love for him,” Ballo said. “And I’m glad he’s going to leave Gonzaga as a legend.”

Watson and Ballo were both named to their respective all-conference teams – the Arizona center for the second year in a row – and both rank second on their teams in scoring.

Watson, who’s adopted more offensive responsibility for the Zags without Drew Timme – another highly rated recruit who came to Spokane as part of the 2019 class – is averaging 14.4 points and 7.1 rebounds this season, scoring 32 points in games against UCLA and Santa Clara.

Ballo’s been a force for Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats, averaging a double-double of 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds this season while helping Arizona capture the Pac-12 regular-season championship.

“I’m super proud of him,” Watson said. “It’s tough when you see a teammate leave and you’re such good friends with him, but you want what’s best for him.

“He went to Arizona, he got a lot better and it showed. So as one of my friends, I’m proud of him for sure.”

Lloyd, who helped recruit Ballo to GU while he was a top assistant for Mark Few, convinced the Mali native to join him in Tucson after landing the head coaching position at Arizona in April 2021.

“Giving me a second chance, a new beginning. He’s trusted me since day one,” Ballo said. “I’m lucky and I’m grateful for him.”

Lloyd alluded to mental struggles and hurdles Ballo had to overcome early in his career during a news conference at the Delta Center on Wednesday.

“There were some dark days last year at Gonzaga,” Lloyd said. “He got in a pretty tough spot. He wasn’t a happy person. For us to get the opportunity to come down to Arizona I think has been really impactful on his life. I know he’s been really impactful on my life.”

Ballo also had a chance to visit with Few for a few minutes on Tuesday.

“He just said he was proud of me,” Ballo said. “They were proud of the man I became and how good a job Tommy and the coaching staff have done with me.”

Ballo’s also been impressed with the growth of Ben Gregg, another former GU teammate who enrolled at the school and joined the Bulldogs’ roster midway through the 2020-21 season.

“He grew a lot, he improved a lot,” Ballo said. “Not only as a basketball player, but for sure as a man. He’s become a really good basketball player.”

When Arizona’s frontcourt players split away from the backcourt during the team’s open practice on Wednesday, Ballo went through a layup drill, catching the ball in the midpost and finishing over an unusually big grad assistant who should’ve also been familiar to Gonzaga fans.

Przemek Karnowski, who spent five years at GU and finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time wins leader, is in second year as a GA for Lloyd. The 7-foot, 300-pound Karnowski spends most of his time with Arizona’s frontcourt and has played a not insignificant role in Ballo’s individual development.

“ ‘Przemy’ is a great guy,” Ballo said. “We practice every day 1-on-1, do stuff like that, so he’s helped me a lot to get better. … He’s still got it. He’s got bounce, he can still dunk the ball. Happy he’s with us. He’s a huge guy.”