Nov. 7 -- Gonzaga seniors Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard were named to the preseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to college basketball's most outstanding player.

Ike, Nembhard and former Mt. Spokane standout Tyson Degenhart, a senior forward at Boise State, are among 50 on the watch list. The three are also on the watch list for the Naismith Trophy player of the year.

Ike averaged 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds last season while earning first-team All-West Coast Conference recognition and AP All-American honorable mention. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 21-plus minutes in Gonzaga's 101-63 rout over No. 8 Baylor on Monday.

Nembhard contributed 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.9 assists, the latter ranking seventh nationally, last season. The first-team All-WCC selection set a GU single-season assists record with 243. Nembhard had 11 assists and six points against Baylor.

Degenhart, a two-time All-Mountain West first-team selection, averaged 16.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season. He averages 13.5 points and 5.1 in 102 career games. He was voted preseason Mountain West Player of the Year.

Kansas had four players named to the Wooden watch list, and Alabama and Baylor each had three. Gonzaga is one of four programs with two.

Former Zags Oumar Ballo (Indiana) and Hunter Sallis (Wake Forest) and Saint Mary's senior Augustas Marciulionis also made the list.

(c)2024 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.