2006: Earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors ... Ranked third in the Big Ten in passes defended in conference games with 1.0 per game ... Finished his career tied for eighth on Illinois' all-time passes broken up list and his 12 PBU's in 2006 ranked fifth on the single-season list ... Named team captain ... Named team's Most Outstanding Defensive Back ... Recorded eight tackles, including seven solo stops in the season finale vs. Northwestern ... Had six tackles vs. Purdue ... Posted a tackle for loss and a pass broken up vs. Ohio State ... Recorded four tackles, including three solos, at Wisconsin ... Recorded five tackles, including four solos, and had a career high three PBUs at Penn State ... Recorded five tackles, including three solos, against Ohio ... Recorded a career-high four PBUs in addition to two tackles - one solo - against Indiana ... Recorded five tackles, including three solos, at Michigan State ... Tied a career high with two TFLs against Iowa ... Also had seven tackles, including six solos, and a PBU against the Hawkeyes ... Had two PBUs against Syracuse ... Also had three tackles, including one solo, against the Orange ... Intercepted a pass and recorded seven tackles, including five solos, at Rutgers ... Recorded eight tackles, including five solos, against Eastern Illinois ... Also had 0.5 TFL vs. the Panthers. 2005: Named the team's Outstanding Defensive Back ... Played in all 11 games, starting the final seven ... Finished fourth on the team in total tackles with 55 ... Posted four tackles-for-loss, one interception and a team-leading five passes broken up ... Had a season-best 10 tackles, including seven solos, against Wisconsin ... Also posted two tackles-for-loss that game ... Made an acrobatic one-handed interception at Indiana along with seven tackles ... Wrapped up the season with a nine-tackle performance, including a tackle-for-loss, in the season finale against Northwestern ... Broke up two passes and had six tackles against Penn State.
2004: Racked up 37 tackles, one PBU and one TFL in 10 starts ... Made a season-high eight stops vs. UCLA and Western Michigan ... Had five tackles, a TFL and a PBU vs. Michigan ... Added four solo stops vs. Iowa ... Had a tackle in every game he played.
2003: Totaled 44 tackles, four PBU's and one forced fumble in seven games, including five starts ... Made a career-high 11 solo stops at Iowa ... Had nine tackles and a forced fumble at Purdue ... Added eight tackles vs. Wisconsin and California ... Had five tackles and two PBU's vs. Northwestern.
2002: Redshirted.
High School: High School: Intercepted 15 passes in two years at St. Martin DePorres, including six in the postseason of his senior year ... PrepStar and SuperPrep All-Region selection ... Named to the Lansing State Journal "Catch 22" list ... Helped lead his team to the 2001 state championship ... Named a Top-50 defensive back recruit nationally by Rivals.com ... Won back-to-back 110-meter hurdles state titles as a junior and senior ... Garnered All-State honors in 2002 ... Earned two varsity letters in football and three in track ... High school coach was Greg Carter.
Personal: Full given name is Alan Sheffield Ball ... Born March 29, 1985 in Detroit, Mich. ... The son of Lorenzo and Cheryl Ball ... Sister, Tracy, ran track at SMU and holds the state high school record in the 200 and 400 meters ... A four-year high school honor roll student ... Lists favorite athlete as Michael Jordan ... Biggest thrill in sports was winning a state title in the 110-meter hurdles ... Majoring in speech communications.
Career Highs
Tackles: 11 at Iowa, 11/1/03
Solos: 11 at Iowa, 11/1/03
TFL: 2, two times, vs. Iowa, 9/23/06 and vs. Wisconsin, 10/29/05
PBU: 3 vs. Penn State, 10/21/06
Forced Fumble: 1 at Purdue, 10/4/03 & vs. Northwestern, 11/19/05
Ball's Game-By-Game Defensive Statistics
| GAME/YEAR | G | ST | AT | TOT | TFL-YDS | INT-YDS | PBU | FF-FR |
| CALIFORNIA | | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| WISCONSIN | | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Purdue | | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1-0 |
| MINNESOTA | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Iowa | | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Indiana | | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| NORTHWESTERN | | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| 2003 Totals | 7 | 36 | 8 | 44 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1-0 |
| FLORIDA A&M | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| UCLA | | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| WESTERN MICHIGAN | | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| PURDUE | | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Wisconsin | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Michigan State | | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| MICHIGAN | | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| at Minnesota | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| IOWA | | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| INDIANA | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| 2004 Totals | 10 | 23 | 14 | 37 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| RUTGERS | | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| SAN JOSE STATE | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| at California | | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Iowa | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Indiana | | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| PENN STATE | | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| WISCONSIN | | 7 | 3 | 10 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| at Ohio State | | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Purdue | | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| NORTHWESTERN | | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| 2005 Totals | 11 | 45 | 10 | 55 | 4-9 | 1-0 | 5 | 0-0 |
| EASTERN ILLINOIS | | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| at Rutgers | | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| SYRACUSE | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| IOWA | | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| at Michigan State | | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| INDIANA | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 0-0 |
| OHIO | | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Penn State | | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| at Wisconsin | | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| OHIO STATE | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| PURDUE | | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| at Northwestern | | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| 2006 Totals | 12 | 43 | 19 | 62 | 3.5-9 | 1-0 | 12 | 0-0 |
| CAREER TOTALS | 40 | 147 | 51 | 198 | 8.5-20 | 2-0 | 22 | 1-0 |
updated 2/09
