Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Insider: GCU-Nevada pits kid pals
12/4/2018 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
Lopes' Finke, Wolf Pack's Caroline teamed in 5th grade
The Thunder connections keep rolling through Grand Canyon basketball.
With "Thunder" Dan Majerle as its head coach and a Lopes mascot named Thunder, a pair of former Champaign Thunder teammates will reunite Sunday when GCU plays No. 6 Nevada on Sunday as part of the Air Force Reserve Jerry Colangelo Classic at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.
Lopes senior power forward Michael Finke and Nevada senior swingman Jordan Caroline grew up as grade school classmates with nearby homes in Champaign, Ill., where they teamed on a fifth-grade traveling club that was called the Thunder and coached by Finke's father, Jeff.
Finke and Caroline, who are fifth-year seniors, competed against each other in junior high school and high school until Caroline moved to a national power, Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, for his final two high school years. Caroline, 6-foot-7, 230-pounder, played a season at Southern Illinois before transferring to Nevada, where he led Wolf Pack to last season's Sweet 16 and was its leader for points per game (18.9) and rebounds per game (10.0).
"I'm excited for him and all the success he's having," Finke said. "He was a really under-recruited guy. He went to a power high school, so he was probably overlooked a little bit. He went to SIU and did well there. Then, ever since he's been at Nevada, he's been killing it. I've got nothing but praise for him."
Finke and Caroline both have University of Illinois athletics connections. Finke's father, Jeff, played football and basketball for the Fighting Illini. Caroline's grandfather, J.C., is a College Football Hall of Famer who played for the Chicago Bears, and his father is Simeon Rice, a former Illini whose NFL stops included the Arizona Cardinals.
The two keep in touch, including playing pickup basketball with each other during summers in Champaign. Once Finke announced on social media that he was going to pursue a graduate transfer, Caroline called him 20 minutes later. Nevada wound up being one of Finke's five visits before he chose GCU.
"We're pretty close," said Finke, a 6-10 power forward who is averaging 8.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game for the Lopes.
The GCU-Nevada game will be the second game in the Colangelo Classic doubleheader, which opens with No. 1 Gonzaga against No. 7 Tennessee at 1 p.m. at the downtown arena where Majerle once starred for the Phoenix Suns. The Lopes' game also will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Late Night with 'Los'
GCU junior guard Carlos Johnson is a late night scorer, starting the season with productive second halves and becoming more productive recently when moving to a reserve role.
Since moving to the bench three games ago, Johnson is averaging 12.7 points and shooting 54.2 percent from the field compared to a 9.4 scoring average on 35.4 percent shooting in five starts. He broke a streak of 14 consecutive missed 3-pointers by making a second-half 3 on Saturday.
"Carlos struggled early but he's starting to round into shape and starting to figure out how to play," Majerle said. "Be aggressive, take the ball to the basket. He's a hard matchup when he takes the ball to the basket, and then he can start pulling up a bit."
Steady Milstead
After making 2 of 11 shots and scoring five points combined in GCU's first two games, sophomore point guard Damari Milstead is averaging 13.3 points and 3.3 assists with 45.3 percent shooting off the bench in the past six games.
"He's a big part of coming off the bench, give us another ballhandler, good on-ball defender and smart," Majerle said of Milstead.
Lope tracks
With "Thunder" Dan Majerle as its head coach and a Lopes mascot named Thunder, a pair of former Champaign Thunder teammates will reunite Sunday when GCU plays No. 6 Nevada on Sunday as part of the Air Force Reserve Jerry Colangelo Classic at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.
Lopes senior power forward Michael Finke and Nevada senior swingman Jordan Caroline grew up as grade school classmates with nearby homes in Champaign, Ill., where they teamed on a fifth-grade traveling club that was called the Thunder and coached by Finke's father, Jeff.
Finke and Caroline, who are fifth-year seniors, competed against each other in junior high school and high school until Caroline moved to a national power, Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, for his final two high school years. Caroline, 6-foot-7, 230-pounder, played a season at Southern Illinois before transferring to Nevada, where he led Wolf Pack to last season's Sweet 16 and was its leader for points per game (18.9) and rebounds per game (10.0).
"I'm excited for him and all the success he's having," Finke said. "He was a really under-recruited guy. He went to a power high school, so he was probably overlooked a little bit. He went to SIU and did well there. Then, ever since he's been at Nevada, he's been killing it. I've got nothing but praise for him."
Finke and Caroline both have University of Illinois athletics connections. Finke's father, Jeff, played football and basketball for the Fighting Illini. Caroline's grandfather, J.C., is a College Football Hall of Famer who played for the Chicago Bears, and his father is Simeon Rice, a former Illini whose NFL stops included the Arizona Cardinals.
The two keep in touch, including playing pickup basketball with each other during summers in Champaign. Once Finke announced on social media that he was going to pursue a graduate transfer, Caroline called him 20 minutes later. Nevada wound up being one of Finke's five visits before he chose GCU.
"We're pretty close," said Finke, a 6-10 power forward who is averaging 8.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game for the Lopes.
The GCU-Nevada game will be the second game in the Colangelo Classic doubleheader, which opens with No. 1 Gonzaga against No. 7 Tennessee at 1 p.m. at the downtown arena where Majerle once starred for the Phoenix Suns. The Lopes' game also will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Late Night with 'Los'
GCU junior guard Carlos Johnson is a late night scorer, starting the season with productive second halves and becoming more productive recently when moving to a reserve role.
Since moving to the bench three games ago, Johnson is averaging 12.7 points and shooting 54.2 percent from the field compared to a 9.4 scoring average on 35.4 percent shooting in five starts. He broke a streak of 14 consecutive missed 3-pointers by making a second-half 3 on Saturday.
"Carlos struggled early but he's starting to round into shape and starting to figure out how to play," Majerle said. "Be aggressive, take the ball to the basket. He's a hard matchup when he takes the ball to the basket, and then he can start pulling up a bit."
Steady Milstead
After making 2 of 11 shots and scoring five points combined in GCU's first two games, sophomore point guard Damari Milstead is averaging 13.3 points and 3.3 assists with 45.3 percent shooting off the bench in the past six games.
"He's a big part of coming off the bench, give us another ballhandler, good on-ball defender and smart," Majerle said of Milstead.
Lope tracks
- Paul Westphal, who coached the Lopes' 1988 NAIA national championship men's basketball team and Majerle's 1993 NBA Finals Phoenix Suns team, attended Saturday's win at GCU Arena. When Majerle came to visit him before tipoff, Westphal bowed to the Lopes coach while wearing the GCU Whiteout shirt.
- With Saturday's win, the Lopes have the fifth-most home wins over the past four seasons (53) in Division I. The only teams with more home victories are St. Mary's (56), Kentucky (55), Louisville (54) and Oregon (54). "We don't ever want to disappoint this crowd with the support we get night in and night out," Majerle said. "We want to make sure we win games here. That's the most important thing to me."
- Entering Sunday's game against Nevada, GCU is 4-1 against Mountain West Conference opponents since 2014-15 with two wins against San Diego State, a win against New Mexico and a two-game split with Boise State. The Lopes lost 81-72 at Nevada in an exhibition game last season.
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