How Graham Ike handled the pressure and became one of Gonzaga’s all-time greats | Dave Boling
When Graham Ike was announced as the Most Outstanding Player of the West Coast Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year, his Gonzaga teammates all started jumping around and flashing signs.
Crossing the first two fingers of each hand, they seemed to be making “#” symbols.
A staffer nearby was asked about it. “Numbers,” he said.
Without further explanation, the assumption has to be that it is in recognition of Ike’s knack for jamming his stats line every night, regardless how much focus, special tactics and manpower opposing teams try to bury him with every time he takes the floor.
Ah, yes, Graham Ike = Big numbers. Guaranteed.
If they had more flexible fingers, they might have considered contorted their digits into a dollar sign ($), because Ike, without question, is money in the bank.
Perhaps better, still, would be just taking a fist and bumping their chests as a signal of their recognition of Ike as the beating heart of this team, the emotional powerhouse carrying them through a season of adversity.
Ike has somehow found the will to improve on his All-American-level talents, load his younger and newer teammates on his shoulders, and lift them to a 30-3 record and an automatic bid into their 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Averaging 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds a game has landed the graduate-senior among the five finalists for the Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s best center, and awards as the top player in the WCC regular season and tournament.
“(He) just delivers night in and night out,” coach Mark Few said of Ike after the WCC Tournament title win. “Two guys on him, three guys on him, always delivers in the toughest and tightest of moments.”
Yes, Big-Game Graham (is there a hand sign for that?).
This season, he has scored 35 against Oregon State, 34 against Santa Clara, 30 over Saint Mary’s, 28 in a win over Kentucky, and 25 vs. UCLA.
Even as his scoring averages have gone up, and he has proven his reliability as a three-level shooter, some still questioned his defense and capacity for rim-protection.
Defense? His seven steals in a game against San Diego this year tied the single-game Zag record (Derek Raivio, 2004).
And one play, in the WCC finals win over Santa Clara, might have been all NBA scouts needed to see to gauge his physicality.
In the second half, when 7-foot-1 post Bukky Oboye drove hard up the lane, Ike met him at the rim and rejected his shot with extreme prejudice.
To understand the full extent of Ike’s performance this season, we must examine how productive teammate Braden Huff had been before a leg injury robbed the Zags of half of what had been considered among the elite frontcourt tandems in college basketball.
Defenses since have been able to encircle Ike and focus more on him without his deadly high-low partner Huff.
It was Ike who pulled the players close and urged them all to fight to stay in contention for when/if Huff returned.
Ike missed three games, himself, with ankle soreness. But his performance in his 12 games since Huff was sidelined tell an obvious story on Ike’s enormous value
His per-game scoring average with Huff in the lineup: 17.8. Without Huff: 22.5.
His field-goal percentage with Huff: 54.2. Without Huff: 60.6.
And since last season, Ike’s minutes-per-game have gone from 22.8 to 30.8.
His performance in the WCC Tournament title game was truly indicative. Ike played all 40 minutes of the win. He only took seven shots, but made all seven (including a 3-pointer).
SCU coach Herb Sendek offered a post-game testimonial to Ike’s All-America case.
“I think (we defended him) about as well as you can,” Sendek said. “That’s always a great sign that a guy’s really good if he’s 7 for 7 and has 15 points and you’re crediting the defense for a good job. That just speaks to his brilliance. He is arguably the best low-post scorer in all of college basketball.”
Observers don’t need to see more than a few minutes of a Gonzaga game to be taken by the energy and passion with which Ike plays. So emotive, Ike is a man of 1,000 faces, shouting, screaming, celebrating, grinning at teammates for good plays, and pleading with officials who so often overlook the hacking he takes under the hoop.
After the title game, cameras in the locker room caught teammates praising Ike.
Davis Fogle: “He makes everyone around him better.”
Adam Miller: “He’s etched his name in history as one of the best big men in the country.”
Mario Saint-Supery: “He’s an amazing player but a better person. He has a huge personality. He’s unstoppable.”
Like the best stars, he is best on the biggest stage.
In his five NCAA Tournament games, he’s connected on 65% of his shots (including 4-7 from 3-range), sank 15 of 16 free throws (94%) and averaged 17.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
Even better, in last year’s second-round NCAA loss to Houston (one of the toughest defensive teams in the nation), Ike scored 27 points, making 2 of 3 3-pointers and all nine of his free throws, with two blocks.
Despite his animated reactions of the court, Ike remains humble and focused in interviews.
“For all that we went through this season … I’m just glad I could be a part of such a great legacy and lineage,” he said last week. “Every day is amazing with these guys … it’s just a great time to be alive.”
Having the maturity to put all his success into a broader and shared context, is another measure of Ike’s value to this team.
Perhaps teammates should save their finger gestures when honoring Ike, and simply make the sign of the “Z,” because Ike has solidified himself as an all-time Zag.