Gonzaga's Graham Ike named one of 10 candidates for Karl Malone Award

Feb. 1—Gonzaga's starting frontcourt got more national recognition on Thursday when junior Graham Ike was named one of 10 candidates for the Karl Malone Award, given annually to the country's top power forward.

It comes one day after fifth-year senior Anton Watson made the 10-player watch list for the Julius Erving Award that recognizes college basketball's top small forward.

The nine other candidates for the Karl Malone Award include Akron's Enrique Freeman, Arizona's Keshad Johnson, Dayton's DaRon Holmes II, Duke's Kyle Filipowski, Marquette's Oso Ighodaro, Miami's Norchad Omier, San Diego State's Jaedon LeDee, UConn's Alex Karaban and Utah State's Great Osobor.

Ike, who was also named to the preseason Karl Malone Award watch list, is averaging a team-high 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for Gonzaga, which has won five straight West Coast Conference games since a Jan. 11 loss at Santa Clara.

The junior forward has scored at least 20 points in Gonzaga's past three games, and in seven of the team's past 10 contests, averaging 17.8 points during that stretch.

Ike was named the WCC's Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 42 points in wins over San Francisco and Pacific. The Wyoming transfer followed up those performances with a 20-point outing in Tuesday's blowout win over Loyola Marymount that saw Ike make 8 of 9 shots from the field in 23 minutes on the floor.

Ike's also leading Gonzaga in field-goal percentage, at 61.4%, and has been one of its most reliable free-throw shooters, making 66 of 88 (75%) this season.

Drew Timme, Gonzaga's career scoring leader, is one of nine players to have won the Karl Malone Award since its inception in 2014-15. Timme was the 2020-21 recipient, earning the award after helping the Bulldogs to a 31-0 start and leading them to an appearance in the national championship game.