Gonzaga's Graham Ike named to 2025 Karl Malone Award watch list

Bulldogs senior has been tabbed to three notable preseason watch lists for national awards

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

For the second consecutive season, Gonzaga men’s basketball senior Graham Ike was tabbed to the 2025 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year award watch list.

Ike, who’s now featured on three prominent watch lists for national awards entering the 2024-25 campaign, is one of the 20 early-season candidates in contention for the best collegiate power forward award. He’s also among the four returning candidates from the 2023-24 midseason top 10 watch list, as Washington’s Great Osobor, UConn’s Alex Karaban and Baylor’s Norchad Omier are also back on the ballot to start the new season. Auburn’s Johni Broome headlines the power forward award watch list as the only preseason AP All-American among the early contenders for the honor.

Ike earned his way onto a handful of prestigious award lists ahead of his final year of college basketball after finishing last season as one of the most productive and skilled low-post bigs in the country. The 6-foot-9 Colorado native averaged 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 71.5% at the rim, per hoop-math.com. Ike’s 123.0 offensive rating was second-best in the country behind Zach Edey (128.8), according to KenPom.com.

Ike also became the sixth player in West Coast Conference history to pace the league in both scoring and field goal percentage in the same season (conference games only). He scored 20 or more points in 11 of the 16 league games, including the last seven contests. His streak of seven games with 20 or more points was the longest in program history since Adam Morrison.

Along with the Karl Malone Award, Ike has been tabbed to the NABC Player of the Year watch list and the Naismith Trophy watch list.

The Zags face a big test to tip off the college basketball season as they take on No. 8 Baylor and Omier at the Spokane Arena on Nov. 4. Mark Few and company will also see Karaban and the Huskies on Dec. 14.

Ike is the third Zag to be named to a watch list for a positional award, joining Ryan Nembhard (Bob Cousy Award, point guard) and Michael Ajayi (Julius Erving Award, small forward). As is the case with all positional awards, the list of 20 candidates will be trimmed to 10 in late January, then again down to five in February. The winner of the Karl Malone Award, and the other positional awards, will be announced on a to-be-determined date.

2025 Karl Malone Award Candidates
Grant Nelson (Alabama)
Carter Bryant (Arizona)
Johni Broome (Auburn)
Norchad Omier (Baylor)
Ian Schieffelin (Clemson)
Graham Ike (Gonzaga)
J'Wan Roberts (Houston)
Will Riley (Illinois)
Malik Reneau (Indiana)
Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State)
Julian Reese (Maryland)
Cade Tyson (North Carolina)
Caden Pierce (Princeton)
Bryce Hopkins (Providence)
Donnie Freeman (Syracuse)
JT Toppin (Texas Tech)
Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB)
Alex Karaban (UConn)
Eric Dixon (Villanova) Great Osobor (Washington)