The mass exodus from Iowa City continues. Iowa Men's Basketball has lost its seventh player to the transfer portal after Head Coach Fran McCaffery was fired. It was expected that players would leave after McCaffery was fired, but Iowa has lost seven players in less than a week.
Iowa star forward Owen Freeman was the first to enter the transfer portal. He was followed by Brock Harding, Pryce Sandfort, Riley Mulvey, Josh Dix, Cooper Koch, and now, forward Ladji Dembele.
Thank you Iowa pic.twitter.com/5iXpdjVuXh
— Ladji kalilou Dembele (@ladji_kalilou) March 20, 2025
Dembele thanked the Iowa program in one of the smaller transfer portal announcements we have seen thus far.
The six-foot, eight-inch Dembele was a three-star high school recruit from Newark, New Jersey, and was in the 2023 recruiting class alongside Owen Freeman, Brock Harding, and Pryce Sandfort.
Dembele was known as a defensive and rebounding ace in high school. As a senior, he averaged 12 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
Dembele played sparingly for the Hawkeyes as a freshman in 2023, but was named a co-recipient of the team's best defender award.
Ladji was thrust into a bigger role as a sophomore, especially after Owen Freeman had season-ending surgery in February. In his sophomore season, he saw a slight improvement in his numbers.
As a freshman, Dembele averaged 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, and he increased those numbers to 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
Dembele was never able to showcase his athletic abilities and defensive prowess during his time in Iowa City.
Dembele did leave the door open for a potential return to Iowa City. Dembele, Josh Dix, and Pryce Sandfort all noted an interest in returning to the Iowa Men's Basketball program if the situation improves.