November 3 — In matchups between top 10 teams, there are often multiple choices for the key matchup. That’s certainly the case for No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 8 Baylor in Monday’s season opener.
We could go for the dynamic point guards – Ryan Nembhard of GU and Jeremy Roach of Baylor, a transfer from Duke. Or focus on Baylor’s 6-foot-5 freshman guard VJ Edgecombe, a projected lottery pick, and new Zag Khalif Battle, an accomplished scorer.
Both are honorable picks, but we’re going with the big men: Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound redshirt senior; and 6-7 Norchad Omier, who weighed 240 pounds last season at Miami before transferring to Baylor, which does not list weights in player biographies.
Ike, in his first season with GU after transferring from Wyoming, played his best basketball in February with seven straight games with at least 20 points to qualify for the Conference Player of the Year. West Coast that was ultimately assigned to Saint Mary’s guard Augustas Marciulionis. .
Ike averaged 16.3 points (his season average was 16.5) in three NCAA Tournament games on 65.6% shooting (just under 61% on the season).
Ike had mixed success against the top positions he faced last year. He struggled at times against UCLA’s Adem Bona, UConn’s Donovan Clingan and Purdue’s Zach Edey – Clingan and Edey were possible lottery picks and Bona was taken 41st overall – but was strong against San Diego State, Kentucky and Kansas.
Omier, a native of Bluefields, Nicaragua, began his career at Arkansas State, winning the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. He helped Miami reach the 2023 Final Four and was named second team All-ACC. He followed that up by averaging 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds last season.
He made 117 career starts. His career average: 15.2 points and 11.0 rebounds entering his fifth season.
“It’s a physical presence, something I look forward to,” Ike said. “I’ve faced a lot of physical guys, especially like we saw last year, so I’m nothing shy. We’re going to come up with a good plan as a team and we’re going to go out there and give it that’s our All.”
Ike and Omier do most of their damage through their size and strength, converting in the paint or drawing fouls – Omier made 75% of his free throws last year, Ike 78.4%. Omier was more of a threat from 3-point range (24 of 68, 35.3 percent) while Ike shot a higher percentage (36.3) in a smaller sample size (7 of 19).
Both are on watch lists for the Karl Malone Award (best power forward) and Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
The two guard each other at times, but the Bears generally have “significant rim protection (and) always have an athletic ‘5,’” GU coach Mark Few noted.
In the 2021 national championship game, Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua helped limit Drew Timme to 12 points in Baylor’s 86-70 victory. In a December 2022 game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Timme had just nine points against a trio of Baylor bigs as the Zags lost 64-63.
GU could use Ike, Braden Huff, Ben Gregg and possibly 7-foot Ismaila Diagne or 6-7 Michael Ajayi over Omier, while Ike can expect to see multiple defenders throughout the competition as well.
