Graham Ike joins exclusive club in Gonzaga's 40 point win over Pepperdine

There were plenty of storylines for the Gonzaga Bulldogs after their rout of the Pepperdine Waves on Sunday evening in Malibu. It was the Zags' 50th straight win over Pepperdine and the team's 30th straight time winning their first game of conference play - both remarkable feats that showcase the dominance this team has had in the WCC under Mark Few.

Lost in the shuffle of Gonzaga's WCC dominance - and excellent games from point guard Braeden Smith and freshman wing Davis Fogle - was Graham Ike reaching a massive career milestone.

Ike posted 13 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday, his fourth double-double in five games, and with it he surpassed the 1,000 career rebound mark - ultimately finishing the game with 1,005 career boards.

The 6'9 big man is the lone active player, the lone Gonzaga player, and one of just 134 players all-time with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a college career. He joins an exclusive club with many of the greatest players in basketball history, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Ralph Sampson, Christian Laettner, and Tyler Hansbrough.

Ike also became one of just four WCC players in the 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound club, joining Bill Cartwright (San Francisco), Hank Gathers (LMU), and Yoeli Childs (BYU).

The Aurora, CO native began his college career at Wyoming in the Mountain West, appearing in 45 games across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and averaging 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Cowboys.

After sitting the entire 2022-23 season with a foot injury, Ike joined Gonzaga via the transfer portal and quickly established himself as the team's go-to scorer down on the block. Now in his third season with the Zags, Ike is averaging 16.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, and a career-high 2.8 assists per game while leading the team to a 13-1 record.

Although his teammate in the frontcourt, Braden Huff, is Gonzaga's leading scorer, Ike is still top of the scouting report for opponents who have to deal with his size, physicality, elite footwork and soft touch around the rim. And now that he's developed into more of a passer, he can make opposing teams pay for trying to double-team him, which frees up Huff - arguably the best low-post scorer in the country - to do what he does best.

Gonzaga has had many gifted big men in coach Few's tenure - Ronny Turiaf, Kelly Olynyk, Przemek Karnowski, Domantas Sabonis, and Drew Timme come to mind - but Ike is right there with them, and he'll look to stamp himself in Zags lore by leading this team to a deep run in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

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