UNLV Basketball Lands Iowa Transfer Ladji Dembele Through Transfer Portal

Similarly to UNLV, the Hawkeyes had six players hit the transfer portal this offseason after their head coach, Fran McCaffery, was fired. This time, UNLV is the beneficiary of the exodus. He announced his decision to enter the portal a month to the day before deciding to sign a commitment to the Rebels,posting the announcement on his Twitter account:

"Thank you, Iowa. Thank you for all the memories, experiences, and opportunities you've given me during my time here. I am incredibly grateful for the support from my coaches, teammates, and the fans. After careful consideration, I will be entering the transfer portal while keeping open the option to return back to Iowa."

Dembele is a 6-foot-8, 255-pounder who played his high school ball at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, NJ, where he became a four-star recruit. However, he's originally from Mali in West Africa. While at Iowa, he appeared in 65 games, with 33 of those appearances coming last season as a sophomore, making 21 starts. Last year, he averaged 4.5 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 46.7% from the field and an impressive 38.2% from beyond the three-point line.

His combination of size and three-point shooting ability is what makes him so enticing to teams in the transfer portal. His decision to join UNLV makes him the fifth player to join Pastner's roster through the transfer portal. The roster is now close to being fully filled out. This is expected to be one of, if not the final, moves made through the transfer portal this offseason. 

All things considered, despite quite a few key players heading to the transfer portal after the firing of former head coach Kevin Kruger, Pastner has put together a strong roster for his first season in Vegas.