Isaac Likekele Looks Refreshed and Focused Going Into His Senior Season

STILLWATER – The 2020-21 season for Oklahoma State guard Isaac Likekele was a bit of a rough one compared to his standards. He spent a decent portion of the Pokes’ scheduled sidelined with various injuries throughout the later half of the season and was playing a different role altogether with Cade Cunningham playing the primary ball hander alongside Avery Anderson III.

In fact, 2020-21 marked the second-straight season Likekele missed a good portion of time due to either injury or illness as he missed about a month of action in 2019-20 due to mono.

"It's no question, Ice had a year that was probably below his standard, below our standard, not only just from a production standpoint, obviously he was not healthy all year,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “I think it maybe affected him mentally kind of taking a backseat, not just to Cade (Cunningham), but we had a lot of young guys come in our program and have an impact. For a guy who was really the only true ball-handler we had for two years and started every game he was healthy to start and really kind of be the primary decision-maker to kind of take a different role, I think he'd be the first one to say he didn't handle it the best way possible. But, I think he learned from it, and I think going into his senior year, wants to make sure that that's something that was a one-time deal, that he's back as a leader, somebody who we can count on to not only help us win but send the right messages in the locker room about how it works at Oklahoma State and why it's important to care about winning, to work as hard as you can and to understand when your opportunity comes to be ready. I feel confident in saying that we have more depth, quality depth from a talent standpoint than we’ve had at any point since I've been here, including my year as an assistant. That means that 200 minutes isn't easy to come by, and they're not changing that rule for us, I don't think."

Playing in only 20 games due to injuries, down eight from the season before, Likekele averaged 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.8 minutes per game. Certainly decent numbers considering the number of games played, but a bit of a dip from the season before when he posted 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 32.4 minutes per game.

Watching practice on Tuesday, Ice looked good. He looked reenergized out on the court, more in command than he was last season. He was slimmer, more agile, and certainly looked more physical. He was picking players up when they needed it, also being hard on guys when they needed it. In part, he looked like he did going into the 2019-20 season, like when he dropped 26 points against Syracuse in the NIT Season Tip-Off before he was sidelined for a month with mono.

“I’ve been working on everything, honestly,” said Cowboy senior Isaac Likekele. “I put an emphasis on my shooting, my passing ability, my finishing ability. This offseason was more of a mental thing for me. Last year, mentally, I just wasn’t just there, I was focused on a bunch of other things and different things that affected me on the court. My health wasn’t too good last year, so I slimmed down, lost about a good 15-20 pounds, changed up my diet, different things like that. So, it was more of a mental aspect for me this offseason so I could just go out there and have fun and do what I do.”

As Boynton mentioned, there’s more depth, and quality in the depth, than at any time since he arrived in Stillwater as an assistant in 2016. There’s a litany of guards who will be looking for control of the ball. We’re going to see Avery Anderson III handle the ball a lot, especially following his breakout performance at West Virginia at the end of last season. However, Isaac Likekele is going to get his minutes. He’s going to command this offense and looks to be back to his pre-mono self. Let’s hope that trend continues.