Chris Tadjo and Chris Street. Two Iowa men’s basketball players who never met, but without Street, Tadjo would’ve had no idea where he was going when he made the thousand-mile journey to Iowa City to play for the Hawkeyes.
Tadjo’s introduction to Street arrived through the Big Ten Network’s documentary of the former Hawkeye forward, a rising star in the program who was killed in a snow plow accident during his junior season in 1993. Witnessing Street’s story 30 years later and more than 1,500 miles away from Iowa City in Montreal, Canada, a high school-aged Tadjo familiarized himself not just with Street but Iowa as well.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a place,’ and somehow, I wanted to come here,” Tadjo said at Iowa men’s basketball media day on Oct. 7. “I was, like, ‘OK, why not go there?’ I just think that was just something God wanted to do.”
Before he arrived at Iowa as a 6-foot-8 first-year forward, Tadjo’s basketball journey spanned three continents and multiple countries.
Driven by a devotion to his family, Tadjo aims to perfect his game, a goal that sometimes adds undue stress. As he navigates a first season with limited minutes, Tadjo has to balance his motivation with perspective.
“Give my 100 percent every time,” he said. “Knowing that when I finish a game, I cannot move, and I’ll be like, ‘Damn, you did your best,’ just knowing that somehow I helped the guys doing something on the court.”
Born in the Ivory Coast, Tadjo spent the first 11 years of his life in Africa before moving across the Atlantic to Montreal, where he learned to speak French and play basketball. Tadjo said his peers didn’t believe he could make these adjustments and felt pride when he proved their doubts wrong.
Yet he felt a greater satisfaction for meeting the expectations of his mother, who decided to move herself, Tadjo, and his younger brother so that the children could have a better life.
“Whatever I would do to help my mom have a relief, that would be the best thing,” Tadjo said.
Tadjo said his work ethic derives from his mom, who’s held multiple jobs and currently works at a Montreal hospital. In her absence, Tadjo usually looked after his brother.
“I needed to be around. I always wanted to be that kind of perfect brother,” he said.
After picking up a new language and sport over four years in Canada, Tadjo had to essentially restart the process when he moved alone to the NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico – an elite basketball training program for top prospects from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Canada. Having learned basketball according to FIBA rules, Tadjo had to adjust to NBA guidelines, all while moving to different countries like Brazil and Spain for competitions.
Just as he had done before, Tadjo’s flexibility paid dividends as he became a two-time MVP for the All-Canadian Games, including a 25-point, 16-rebound performance in 2023. An On3 four-star recruit, Tadjo had offers from Akron, Xavier, and TCU but opted for Iowa, whose head coach, Fran McCaffery, saw valuable intangibles in him.
“We respect his work ethic — his intensity level,” McCaffery said. “That’s a talent. That’s an underestimated talent. Hard work, physicality, intensity level on every possession, not everybody does that, and he does.”
Nevertheless, perfectionism is a side effect of Tadjo’s work ethic and can sometimes be overbearing. McCaffery said Tadjo is “so conscientious” and doesn’t want the first-year to tear down confidence with every mistake.
Iowa second-year center Owen Freeman went through a similar struggle in his first season with the Hawkeyes and has offered advice.
“You’re making a huge jump, just playing against high school guys to grown men,” Freeman said. “Just continue to work every day, and don’t worry about it. Just move on. If you have a bad practice, bad shot, whatever, just keep moving.”
“[Tadjo’s] becoming more confident in himself and just making plays,” he added. “He’s still really hard on himself, and I’m trying to get him to ease up. It’s a long season.”
Missing time this season due to a concussion, Tadjo saw action in two games, totaling five points and two rebounds. The transition to Big Ten basketball still has its speed bumps – such as Tadjo’s four personal fouls against USC Upstate – but the forward doesn’t forget the effort it took for him to get to this point.
Tadjo remembered calling his mom upon arriving at Iowa and telling her he needed to work even harder from now on. He’s by himself at Iowa – his mom is still in Canada, and his brother is at the same academy in Mexico – but Tadjo’s sacrifice for basketball is the least he can do.
“I feel like I don’t have another choice,” Tadjo said. “I really want my mom to enjoy the life that she wanted to have, that she didn’t have because of me and my brother. Somehow, I want to give it back to her by working hard and going to the NBA and give her back whatever I can.
“But at the same time I know I won’t be able to give her back everything because she has done a lot that I would never be able to pay.”