Gonzaga star included among top 15 college basketball players in 2025-26

A Zag earned national recognition in new preseason player ratings

Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

Year in and year out, Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs have one of the frontcourts in college basketball.

This year's group is led by super senior Graham Ike and redshirt junior Braden Huff, along with sophomore Ismaila Diagne and freshman Parker Jefferson.

Ike is projected by many to earn All-American honors in his final season of eligibility, and should be the odds-on favorite to win the WCC Player of the Year award after it went to Saint Mary's guard Augustas Marciulionis the past two seasons.

The preseason player ratings at EvanMiya.com, a popular college basketball analytics site, have Ike ranked No. 14 among all players in college hoops heading into the 2025-26 season.

Ike is seventh among frontcourt players, coming in behind Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 2), Texas Tech's JT Toppin (3), Duke's Cameron Boozer (7), Houston's JoJo Tugler (11), Illinois' Tomislav Ivisic (12) and Florida's Alex Condon (13).

That puts the 6'9 center ahead of notable big men Zuby Ejiofor (Saint John's), Nate Bittle (Oregon), Tarris Reed (UConn), Trey Kaufman-Renn (Purdue) and Flory Bidunga (Kansas).

Oct 4, 2025; Spokane, WA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (15) shoots the ball against center Ismaila Diagne (24) during Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel at the McCarthey Athletic Center. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Ike has been a dominant force on the block for the Zags the past two seasons, averaging 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 23.5 minutes per game across 70 games, while shooting 62% on two pointers, 38.5% from three, and 79.5% from the free throw line.

The former Wyoming star is elite at drawing contact and getting to the charity stripe, and his 80.5% clip last season was tops in the WCC among bigs and one of the best in the entire country.

Ike has also improved as an outside shooter, drilling 39.4% of his three-point attempts last year. It was on less than one attempt per game, but his ability to space the floor was taxing on opposing defenses — and even led to the big man hitting a game-tying three in the closing seconds on the road against Oregon State to force overtime.

Jan 16, 2025; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) reacts to his three-point shot against the Oregon State Beavers that sends the game to overtime at Gill Coliseum. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Ike will once again operate a high-usage role on the block for Gonzaga, although now he will be joined in the starting lineup by Huff, who himself is an elite low-post scorer.

These two will need to learn how to play alongside each other on a consistent basis, after doing so sparingly last year until the final three games of the season. The duo performed very well in the starting lineup together and should thrive by taking advantage of matchups all season long.

Gonzaga's backcourt features a lot of new faces, but as long as Ike and Huff continue to dominate offensively for coach Few, this team will have a chance to make another deep run in March.

The festivities get underway officially on Monday, Nov. 3, at the McCarthey Athletic Center against Texas Southern.