Spokesman.com
Another big body joins the Cougs as Ladji Dembele signs on
Ladji Dembele is a 6-foot-8, 255-pound forward who played five games for UNLV last year because of an injury. He's now a Coug. That makes eight offseason commitments for David Riley, and this one looks like the first true big man in the group. Dembele spent two years at Iowa before that, starting 21 games his second season, and he played for Mali's U-19 team at the 2021 World Cup. He's from Newark, originally, by way of Mali and Spain. The guy has been around.
What matters here is what Riley is building. The Cougs lost 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal. Ace Glass is at Vanderbilt. Eemeli Yalaho is headed to NC State. ND Okafor to Ole Miss. That's a lot of turnover. But Riley keeps signing bodies. Tyler Kropp is listed at 6-9 but has a thinner frame, so Dembele gives them the center they needed. That matters when you're starting almost from scratch.
We wrote the other day about Jamari Phillips coming in from Oregon, and about Riley saying this roster has more talent walking in than last year's. That quote ages well with each signing. Dembele isn't a star on paper, 5.2 points at UNLV, 4.5 at Iowa, but he's a veteran who has played Power 4 minutes and knows what a real frontcourt looks like. For a team that returns two players, that kind of experience is worth more than the stat line.
Go Cougs.
