Tagyn Larson excited to finally be at Iowa

At times, 18 months can seem like an eternity.

For Iowa freshman Tagyn Larson, it seemed like nothing.

Larson became the first member of Iowa's four-member, top-20 ranked recruiting class when she pledged to become a Hawkeye back in November of 2013.

The year and a half between her verbal commitment to Iowa and her arrival in Iowa City didn't seem like much for the Sioux Falls, S.D. native.

"It seems like I committed yesterday, the time kind of flew by for me," Larson said. "I think I was just so excited to be here. It seems like not that long ago I committed to be here."

Larson was the first piece of an Iowa recruiting class that was ranked as the 17th best in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz.

The Sioux Falls Roosevelt standout committed and then watched as Iowa added top-100 national recruits Tania Davis, Megan Gustafson and Hannah Stewart.

That foursome expects to add reinforcements for an Iowa squad that lost three starters from last year's Sweet 16 run.

"It was definitely interesting seeing who would commit next and what girls were coming in," Larson said. "They are all great, we all get along great and it's really interesting watching them and seeing their different strengths and what they can do."

The 6-foot-2 Larson comes to Iowa with a reputation as a versatile athlete and strong defender.

Larson holds career records for blocked shots and rebounds at Sioux Falls Roosevelt and also has the school record for blocked shots in a game.

The lanky Larson spent plenty of time swatting shots as a post defender in high school, but will be expected to defend on the perimeter at Iowa.

"I was the all-time leader in blocks so I do take a little pride in that," Larson said. "It's a much different league now so I'm continuing focusing on getting even more defensive minded."

A stress fracture slowed Larson during her junior season in high school, but she still averaged 16 points and eight rebounds per game.

An injury has kept her from participating fully in her first summer session at Iowa.

Larson has been cleared for individual workouts and practices, but has been held out of scrimmages in the Game Time League.

"I'm doing all the workouts and practicing just not scrimmaging," Larson said. "I'm really antsy to try to get back out and scrimmage, in a couple of weeks I hope to test out the waters."

Larson said she's spent her first season working on her perimeter play including ballhandling and shooting.

She should push for minutes at the three spot this season as Iowa attempts to replace the backcourt production of Samantha Logic and Melissa Dixon.

"In high school I played a lot in the post area, but then in summer and AAU I played a lot of guard so I know both positions pretty well, coach Bluder sees me as a 3 so that's what I'm focusing on now," Larson said. "There are definitely a lot of great players in front of me and to play with so hopefully I can come in and contribute with whatever I can and help the team out."

Reach Ryan Murken at 319-339-7369 or rmurken@press-citizen.com and follow him on Twitter at @rmmurken.