I will be a fan of Graham Ike as long as he doesn’t disparage the University of Wyoming or transfer to a MWC opponent.
With that said, what hurts the most about him transferring is that he is guaranteed to transfer up; this isn’t inherently bad, but imagine he transfers to Arkansas, for instance. They have a freshman who will be a top 10 pick, a top 5 recruiting class twice in the last 5 years. Graham Ike may be a stud, but to them he will be “just another good player.”
To Wyoming fans (or at least to me), he was a generational talent; I do not know much about his potential as an NBA player, but his impact is far greater than Larry Nance could have attempted to fulfill [I am not sure about this opinion, but would love to hear what you guys think about it.]. Up until he transferred, I was content with every guy (including Oden and Reynolds, who were my two favorites) transferring “as long as Graham Ike stayed.” This year especially made it apparent that he (and also Drake Jeffries, rebounding and defensive stud) was responsible for the team’s success last year.
Thinking back and comparing Graham to others in program history who have transferred [does anybody have any knowledge or great players transferring prior to 2010 or so?, my knowledge is limited prior to Shroyer era transfers.], has there ever been close to a better transfer from our school? The absolute closest I can think is Amath Mbaye and Desmar Jackson; Mbaye transfered to Oklahoma and Desmar Southern Illinois(?). Mbaye clearly was the superior player here. Other than that, Marcus Williams who I’m sure at this point is regretting things (he comes off the bench for San Francisco after a brief stint at Texas A&M).
Sorry this post was so long. I would love to hear any opinions or disagreements.
It just sucks knowing that even though he will see great success (God willing), the average P5 fan won’t appreciate how special of a player he is.
With that said, what hurts the most about him transferring is that he is guaranteed to transfer up; this isn’t inherently bad, but imagine he transfers to Arkansas, for instance. They have a freshman who will be a top 10 pick, a top 5 recruiting class twice in the last 5 years. Graham Ike may be a stud, but to them he will be “just another good player.”
To Wyoming fans (or at least to me), he was a generational talent; I do not know much about his potential as an NBA player, but his impact is far greater than Larry Nance could have attempted to fulfill [I am not sure about this opinion, but would love to hear what you guys think about it.]. Up until he transferred, I was content with every guy (including Oden and Reynolds, who were my two favorites) transferring “as long as Graham Ike stayed.” This year especially made it apparent that he (and also Drake Jeffries, rebounding and defensive stud) was responsible for the team’s success last year.
Thinking back and comparing Graham to others in program history who have transferred [does anybody have any knowledge or great players transferring prior to 2010 or so?, my knowledge is limited prior to Shroyer era transfers.], has there ever been close to a better transfer from our school? The absolute closest I can think is Amath Mbaye and Desmar Jackson; Mbaye transfered to Oklahoma and Desmar Southern Illinois(?). Mbaye clearly was the superior player here. Other than that, Marcus Williams who I’m sure at this point is regretting things (he comes off the bench for San Francisco after a brief stint at Texas A&M).
Sorry this post was so long. I would love to hear any opinions or disagreements.
It just sucks knowing that even though he will see great success (God willing), the average P5 fan won’t appreciate how special of a player he is.
