Athlete of the Week: Ike Azotam

Athlete of the Week: Ike Azotam

Courtesy: quinnipiacbobcats.com

By Ben Dias, QBSN Staff Writer

This week’s QBSN Athlete of the Week honors are awarded to Ike Azotam (Boston, Mass.) of the men’s basketball team.

Azotam, a sophomore forward, has been an important contributor in his first two seasons in Hamden. The talented sophomore has helped the Bobcats fill the void left by Justin Rutty, having graduated this past May.

Over the course of this young season, Azotam has helped the Bobcats with his rebounding and strong defensive presence.

Azotam has helped lead a group of younger forwards like Ousmane Drame and Justin Harris who are among the team’s eight freshmen. Along, with the help of senior James Johnson and Jamee Jackson, Azotam is looked to lead this young Bobcats squad.

 “Last year we had so much older guys,” said Azotam. “I’m not really in the leadership role yet. I’m learning some qualities, so it was tough in the first half to get everybody going like giving them constructive criticism.”

The Bobcats bruising forward in the paint, Azotam has led the team in rebounding and is second on the team in point-per-game with 17. Azotam is also currently second in the nation in Division I rebounding with 14 per game.

In Quinnipiac’s opening loss to Fairfield at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Azotam led the Bobcats with an impressive stat line of 17 points and 10 rebounds, including four on the offensive boards. Azotam was also 7-for-15 from the field and led the team with two blocks.

Following the opening season defeat to the Stags of Fairfield, Azotam helped the Bobcats earn their first win at home against the cross-town rival Yale Bulldogs.

With the win, Azotam recorded his second consecutive double-double. His inside presence helped Quinnipiac finish with 54 team rebounds compared to Yale’s 41. Azotam matched a career-high with 17 points to go along with a new career-high with 18 rebounds.

He led the team with 18 boards, nine on each end and chipped in with three steals to lead the team.

Yale chipped away in the waning minutes, but Azotam sealed the deal with two free-throws with 38 seconds to give the Bobcats their first win of the season.

The Bobcats know the importance of controlling the boards, and Azotam realizes it is one the team’s strengths.

 “We work on it every day, so it’s like second nature to us,” Azotam said. “We always have four guys crashing and we really try to be tough on the glass, box-out, and get a couple easy fouls off box-outs and went to the free throw off of them. That’s our nature, that’s our go-to thing, it’s our strength and we want to utilize it.”

The Bobcats hope Azotam can continue to keep up his hot streak and be that forceful inside presence in the paint that last year’s team had with Rutty. The Bobcats know they have to count on Azotam as integral part of their team, not only for defense and rebounding, but proven leadership if they want to win the Northeast Conference and earn an NCAA tournament berth.