Graham Ike has emerged from the transfer portal in Spokane, Washington.
The former Overland star front court player played part of two seasons with the University of Wyoming men’s basketball team after he committed to the Cowboys without making an in-person visit due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then recently declared he had entered the transfer portal.
Ike revealed via social media Friday morning that he has committed to perennial powerhouse Gonzaga. He wasn’t the only player landed by the Zags, as former Creighton guard Ryan Nembhard also committed.
The 6-foot-9 Ike had an outstanding sophomore season for Wyoming in which he played in 33 games and averaged 19.5 points (on 51 percent shooting from the field) and 9.6 rebounds per game and garnered All-Mountain West first team honors. He did not play in the 2022-23 season due to a right foot injury. In all, Ike played 45 games for the Cowboys and averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes
Another former Grandview star, Lauren Betts, ends up at UCLA
TUESDAY, APRIL 18: The two most accomplished female basketball players in Grandview High School history — Michaela Onyenwere and Lauren Betts — will have something else in common.
Under head coach Josh Ulitzky, both won Class 5A state championships, multiple Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year awards and selection to the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game during their time at Grandview and now they both will have played for the same college program.
After she played her freshman season at Stanford, Betts announced via social media Tuesday that she has committed to UCLA, where Onyenwere played from 2018-2021.
Onyenwere, a three-time Colorado Gatorade POY, committed to UCLA out of high school and starred for the Bruins for four seasons and earned Associated Press All-American third team honors in her final two seasons. She played in 123 games at UCLA and scored 1,888 points to take the No. 4 spot on the program’s all-time list in the category and she went on to get drafted No. 6 overall by the New York Liberty of the WNBA. The 23-year-old Onyenwere is now on the roster of the Phoenix Mercury.
The 6-foot-7 Betts finished up her illustrious prep career as the No. 1 recruit in her class for several publications and committed to Stanford, which won the NCAA women’s national championship the previous season. In the 2022-23 season, the post standout appeared in 33 games — all off the bench — for coach Tara VanDerveer’s Cardinal (who also had former Regis Jesuit star Fran Belibi on the roster) and averaged 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest in an average of 9.67 minutes of play.
Betts’ season-high of 18 points came against Cal State-Northridge, her top rebound total of 13 came against Grambling and her highest numbers of minutes (29) came in Stanford’s visit to Boulder to play Colorado.
She entered the transfer portal in early April and after two weeks committed to UCLA, which lost to top-seeded South Carolina in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women’s tournament in March.
Betts will also have the same coach as Onyenwere did in Cori Close, who has been the program’s head coach since 2011.
Betts’ younger sister, Sienna, just finished her sophomore season at Grandview in which she led the Wolves to the 5A state championship and was Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year, putting her on a similar track to her sister and Onyenwere. Sienna Betts has made a few unofficial visits, including a trip to UCLA last October.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes
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