Graham Ike's leadership carrying Gonzaga through late season adversity

Ike is Gonzaga's leader this season, both on and off the court

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (15). | Photo by Erik Smith

There is no shortage of veteran presence on this Gonzaga Bulldogs roster. Seven of the team's 10 rotation players have been in college at least four years, contributing to Gonzaga having the sixth most experienced team in the country, according to KenPom.

However, no one on this roster has played more minutes in a Gonzaga uniform than Graham Ike, who is performing at an All-American caliber level this season while carrying the Zags to a 24-2 record.

Ike is the team leader both on and off the court, stepping into this crucial role following the departure of seniors Nolan Hickman, Ben Gregg, Ryan Nembhard, and Khalif Battle last year. That quartet played a combined 18 seasons of college basketball, including 11 in Spokane with the Zags.

This year's Gonzaga team cruised through the first 2.5 months of the season, stumbling badly against Michigan but ultimately sitting 17-1 and 5-0 in WCC play after a 12-point home win over Santa Clara on Jan. 15.

Adversity struck the Zags after that, however, with star forward Braden Huff suffering a left knee injury in practice just before the Washington State game on Jan. 15. Huff, who averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds prior to the injury, has not played in Gonzaga's last eight games - and recently Few indicated the 6'10 redshirt junior is "not even close" to returning to the floor.

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff. | Photo by Myk Crawford

Huff's absence - and a shockingly bad loss to Portland in early February - could have caused this team to spin out. Instead, Ike, who missed three games himself with an ankle injury, put this team on his back and carried Gonzaga to blowout wins over Oregon State and Washington State this past week - while continuing his leadership role off the court.

"Graham's done a good job," Gonzaga assistant coach Zach Norvell told Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI. "You think he's just supposed to be the leader scoring all the points, the main guy. But sometimes it's hard when you got to be the vocal guy and you got to go out there and score all the points [and] be the dominant person you are. I think he's done a good job of getting outside himself a little bit and still trying to get everything out of everybody else and make sure we all dialed in and everybody's attention is on the game and the task at hand."

It helps when your team leader is also proving it on the court. Ike did not top 30 points in a Gonzaga uniform in either of his first two seasons in Spokane, but has now done so in three of his last six games, including a career-high 35 points on 13-18 shooting on the road against the Beavers on Saturday.

Gonzaga Bulldogs Tyon Grant-Foster (7) and Graham Ike (15). | Photo by Erik Smith

"Graham had a nice calmness and pace about him," Few said after the Oregon State game. "It was a nice heroic effort...just an awesome performance."

In Ike's last six games, the 6'9 big man is averaging 27.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting a ridiculous 68.6% on twos, 60% from three, and 88.2% from the line while playing a whopping 33.8 minutes per game.

With a massive road matchup against Santa Clara looming on Saturday, Ike will be instrumental - both on and off the court - in Gonzaga's quest to move back into first place in WCC.