Gonzaga’s Graham Ike one of 50 named to Naismith Trophy watch list

Graham Ike was named to another preseason watch list hours before Gonzaga’s 2025-26 season tipped off at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Ike was one of 50 players, and the only Gonzaga player, named to the watch list for the Naismith Trophy, handed out to the top player in college basketball at the end of the season.

The senior forward is closing in on 2,000 career points as he begins his third and final season at Gonzaga, needing only 41 to hit the milestone.

Ike has started in 108 of 115 career appearances at Wyoming and Gonzaga and is coming off a season during which he finish ed first in West Coast Conference field -goal percentage (59.8), third in scoring (17.3) and fifth in rebounding (7.3).

Ike was named to the WCC’s All-Conference First Team each of the last two seasons and earned preseason honors from the conference two weeks ago. The Aurora, Colorado, native has also been named preseason All-American by multiple outlets.

Others players named to the watch list include Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Tennessee’s Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie, St. Louis’ Robbie Avila, UConn’s Solo Ball and Alex Karaban, Oregon’s Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad, Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans, Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell, Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, Florida’s Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Xaivian Lee and Thomas Haugh, UCLA’s Donovan Dent, Indiana’s Tucker DeVries, Creighton’s Josh Dix, BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa and Richie Saunders, St. Johns’ Zuby Ejiofor, Ian Jackson and Bryce Hopkins, Kansas State’s P.J. Haggerty, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard, Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic and Andrej Stojakovic, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey, Kentucky’s Jaland Lowe and Otega Oweh, Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, Arizona’s Koa Peat, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr., Houston’s Emanuel Sharp, Joseph Tugler and Milos Uzan, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, Texas Tech’s JT Toppin, NC State’s Darrion Williams and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson.