Graham Ike (left) used to spend time with grandfather Tom Graham, a former NFL linebacker, attending Denver Broncos alumni and community events before Graham died in 2017. (Courtesy/Ebony Graham)
Graham Ike remembers a man with huge hands and an even bigger heart.
He’s heard the stories about a relentless NFL linebacker who was unanimously recognized as an All-Pro human being.
He remembers a fighter – someone who lived every ounce of his life with purpose and passion until it was finally taken, not before a valiant battle with cancer that lasted longer than anyone anticipated.
Tom Graham wasn’t supposed to see the year 2017. Ike’s grandfather was diagnosed with an aggressive, fast-developing form of brain cancer in April of 2016. After one round of chemotherapy, it was determined the treatment would not be effective. Doctors encouraged family members to start making arrangements. Thirty days was the rough estimate.
Tom outlasted that prediction and continued to live for more than a year, finally succumbing to complications from his brain cancer on May 30, 2017.
“They gave him 30 days,” Ike said. “He ended up living 15 months.”
Now the heralded forward will remember his late grandfather every time he slips on Gonzaga’s No. 15 jersey, dedicated to the timeframe when Tom not only summoned the strength to keep living, but gave family members and friends priceless memories they still savor.
Ike wore No. 33 his first two college seasons at Wyoming. When he arrived at Gonzaga, Ben Gregg was going on year four in No. 33, so Ike claimed No. 13.
Gregg’s graduation vacated No. 33, but Ike and his mother had already spent time workshopping ways he could honor his grandfather. The brainstorming sessions stopped when Ike proposed a switch to No. 15. They felt it was a profound tribute to Tom’s legacy.
“He just had a big impact on my life,” said Ike, who enters his fifth and final college season as one of the country’s most accomplished big men, a CBS Preseason Third Team All-American and the unquestioned leader of Mark Few’s 21st-ranked Gonzaga team. “I just did everything with him up until that point he’d passed. Football games, church, just hanging all the time. Definitely plays a huge role in my life and why I’m doing what I’m doing today.”
### The namesake
Tom and Marilyn Graham had their hands full with five children, including four boys – Jason, Daniel, Philip and Joshua – and a daughter, Ebony.
It quickly registered with Ebony her son would be the only grandchild without the family’s surname. She came up with a solution and Graham Chidube Ike was born Aug. 3, 2002, in Denver.
Ike’s middle and last names are Nigerian. “Chidube” translates to “God creates leaders.”
His first name, meanwhile, created an immediate and intimate connection to his grandfather, who also bore a striking physical resemblance to the now 23-year-old Gonzaga forward.
“The rest of the brothers might not like this,” Ebony said, “but I would say I was (Tom’s) favorite child so Graham, also especially carrying the family name, they were very, very close.”
Ebony had a heavy lift raising her son in a single-parent household, but there was no shortage of support from family members. Ike spent time with his four uncles, but developed a special bond with his grandfather in particular.
The family’s gene pool gave Ike a head start in athletics, but Tom’s compassion and servant leadership also created an important foundation, giving his grandson the tools to thrive as a high-profile athlete representing one of college basketball’s top brands during an NIL/social media era that can be tough to navigate.
“Just a great, upstanding human being. Everybody loved him, everybody knew him,” Ike said. “He was always personable, always communicative to everybody. He would literally house people who needed a place to stay. He was just so open and loving. That’s what I take every day.”
Tom was a standout baseball player at Narbonne High School in Southern California who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. With his mother insisting he pursue an education, Tom passed on the MLB offer and accepted a football scholarship at the University of Oregon, where he roomed with four-time Pro Bowler Ahmad Rashad and played with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts.
A two-time All-Pac-8 linebacker who also earned a master’s degree from Oregon, Tom was drafted in 1972. The way the story goes, from what Ike’s gathered, is Tom was out fishing on a brisk February day in Eugene when the Denver Broncos reached him by phone to let him know they were taking him with the 102nd overall pick.
A takedown machine from his middle linebacker position, Tom played six NFL seasons for the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers and Bills, leading Denver in tackles his first two years. One of Ike’s uncles, Daniel, was a two-time Super Bowl-winning tight end who caught passes from Tom Brady during the New England Patriots’ championship seasons in 2003 and 2004.
Ike tried football at a young age but switched permanently to basketball in middle school and never had the desire to strap pads back on after that. Ebony didn’t push back on that decision.
“My mom wasn’t really pulling for it,” Ike said. “She doesn’t like brain damage.”
But Ebony still sees elements of her father’s athleticism and physicality when Ike backs opponents down on the low block. The even-mannered Gonzaga forward, generous with fans and polite in his interactions with the media, tends to transform on the court, often overwhelming opponents with effort, intensity and sheer strength.
Houston’s reputation as one of the nation’s top defensive frontcourts took a hit when Ike found a new gear in the NCAA Tournament. The forward scored 27 points in a second-round loss, matching Duke’s Cooper Flagg for the highest total by a single player against the Cougars in 2024-25.
It was the footnote on a season that saw him average 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, earn All-WCC First Team recognition and capture WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.
“Thankfully, his height worked for him, but I definitely see the football in his blood in him when he’s on the court,” she said. “I would say I almost didn’t recognize him on the court for the first couple years, because he’s such a nice, nice guy. That assertiveness on the floor is desirable and I know sometimes he gets a little bit of a bad rap and he looks really scary out there, but he’s a lovely, loving young man.
“I love to see it, it reminds me of my dad when I see him out there banging bodies and not letting anybody push him over. I’m so proud of him.”
### The giver
The plaque attached to a wall inside Tom and Marilyn’s Denver-area home was not just a decor piece.
“The Grahams’ Grand Hotel,” it read.
The Grahams didn’t require reservations or booking fees, but offered hotel-like convenience and comfort to travelers passing through the Denver area. In some cases they were notified weeks in advance. Other times it was a matter of hours. Regardless of circumstance, they were happy to provide.
“Oh, we’re driving through Colorado on our way to California and we’ll be there tonight,” Ebony said, recalling the nature of the conversations that would occur.
In one instance, a family friend from Cameroon had made plans to travel to the United States to have her child. Nine months pregnant, the woman arrived on the Grahams’ doorstep. She was promptly offered a room.
“That was standard,” Ebony said. “I just always remember summers filled with traveling families.”
Generosity is a Graham quality that has spanned generations. Ebony’s grandmother shared stories about her own father – Ike’s great, great grandfather – serving food and hosting people who needed shelter during the Great Depression.
The desire to give has rubbed off on Ike, who’s developed a substantial platform and gained tens of thousands of fans during his time at Wyoming and Gonzaga.
In July, a group of young boys were staging a blacktop scrimmage on a residential road in Five Mile Falls in preparation for Spokane Hoopfest. They were informed a Gonzaga player might drop by at some point, but six young jaws dropped when _the_ Gonzaga player emerged from a car and introduced himself to the group.
“He’s larger than life, he’s such a big guy and a lot of these kids aren’t used to seeing such big basketball players,” said Brennon Poynor, whose son, Link, was one of the boys that had a chance to meet Ike. “They were a little nervous, obviously … but all the kids were so excited to see him.”
Poynor, who operates the Spokast! podcast studio and co-hosts a weekly show with former Gonzaga star Adam Morrison, said Ike spent “a good hour” coaching the boys and offering tips. The pointers on boxing out and defensive stance were not for nothing, either. Link’s “Splash Factory” team won its Hoopfest bracket just days later.
“He was very, very good with his time and gracious with his time,” Brennon said. “Took pictures with everyone.”
This wasn’t an isolated occasion. Ike, who frequented Denver Bronco community events with his grandfather, learned the value of giving back at a young age and routinely spends free time speaking to children at elementary schools around the Spokane area.
“He has a gift with kids, he has a gift for giving back and wanting to be someone those kids can look up to,” Gonzaga assistant Brian Michaelson said. “… I get to see the type of competitor he is daily, which is awesome. But it’s seeing him in those situations and kind of how his whole persona changes and the amount of time and the dedicated energy he gives when he’s with those kids at the schools, it’s not just there to check off a box.
“He’s all in with those kids and making them feel like the most important thing he has going that day and that’s a real gift.”
### A 15-month blessing
Nobody would have known Tom Graham’s days were dwindling.
The assumption is that someone with terminal illness is going through their weakest moment. Family members say Tom’s final 15 months were the complete opposite.
“In that 15 months, it was a wonderful blessing he had a beautiful quality of life,” Ebony said. “It wasn’t just time, it was quality time that we were able to spend. Even in his sickness, there was a lot of coherency and a lot of laughs and family, friends. So it was a precious space and time. There wasn’t suffering as we might kind of think there was.”
During that period, Ebony and her father passed time by playing many of the records Tom introduced her to as a child. Music had always been a staple in the Grahams’ home and they found comfort listening to Stevie Wonder, someone Tom called a “word wizard.”
“When I listen to songs now, even that we’d listen to, it always just makes me smile and brings back happy memories,” Ebony said.
Others are sure to resurface when Ebony, who’s planning to attend every Gonzaga game she can this season, watches her son walk out onto the floor with No. 15 embroidered on his back.
“I am so proud of him and this has been such a wonderful experience,” she said. “We were just having a conversation, Zags for life. It makes me happy and warm. This has been a great experience. Transferring here was the best choice he could’ve made. I’ve seen his growth, I’ve seen his happiness increase, body is strong. Graduated, got a degree. I couldn’t be happier as a mom.”
Ike’s number change, and mission to carry on his grandfather’s legacy, is just icing on the cake.
“I’m just so thankful for those 15 months,” Ebony said. “Graham was able to see, not just in life, but even in the transition of life that love is the everlasting energy and we won’t forget that.”