Ladji Dembele Impressing in First Few Weeks at Iowa

With three fourths of Iowa basketball's 2023 recruiting class hailing from Iowa and Illinois, Hawkeye fans have a decent read on what they can expect from Pryce Sandfort, Brock Harding and Owen Freeman going into their freshman season.

That leaves out one particular big time recruit.

Ladji Dembele -- a four-star forward who is originally from Mali in West Africa and played two years of prep ball for St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, New Jersey -- is another key addition to the 2023 class, and he's caught the eye of his teammates and the coaching staff in Iowa City this summer.

"Ladji has been really impressive so far," Fran McCaffery said at Thursday's media availability. "He's obviously a big body. He's probably 260 pounds now. He's got a really good skill set -- he moves it, he can put it on the deck and he can make threes."

"He has been a phenomenally impressive rebounder every day since he got here which is what we need from that position," he added. "I think that's what we expected, but most freshman don't come in and consistently rebound the way he has. It's there, we thought it was there, but everyday he's up over ten rebounds at practice."

His physical size and energy on the court translate well to the amount of rebounds he's hauled in this summer.

"He's so strong, it's insane," Freeman said. "Trying to move him around is pretty difficult."

"Ladji works hard every single day," Harding added. "He goes after it and gets almost every offensive rebound every time down the court."

Though the rebounding was expected by the staff, his smooth jump shot is what has really got his new teammates excited about him.

"What really surprised me is that he can shoot the ball really well," Freeman added. "He shoots it well in practice and in workouts -- three-pointers, mid-range, everything. He has got a really nice jump shot and that really impressed me from day one."

The newcomer hasn't gone without his struggles, but he says he's learning and growing every day.

"The game is a little bit faster," Dembele said. "It's tougher physically, too. I've been working on dribbling the ball a lot. Coach McCaffery gives you the freedom to dribble the ball as long as you don't turn the ball over. I'm also working on making shots more."

His new teammates have stepped up to help him a long the way thus far as well.

"Patrick (McCaffery) and Payton (Sandfort) have helped me," he said. "Those are the two players I guard the most, so they tell me the tricks of how to defend the ball screen and stuff. Payton is a tough matchup. Tony (Perkins) also, because I would say he's the captain of the team, so he has helped me a lot."

One of the main things pushing him forward as a defender is film work.

"I have to watch a lot of film," Dembele added. "I'm watching my defense for the most part. I watch a lot of it because I'm not a great defender, but I'm trying to make sure I see the ball and see my man -- I'm working on those little details."