Season pivots on top duo, key roles

Tuesday, Nov. 5 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-0)	VS	DAVENPORT PANTHERS (1-1)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCULopes.com \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

The other two top WAC teams, New Mexico State and Seattle U, return nearly every player on their rosters. Yet Grand Canyon is considered a conference contender amid roster turnover.

GCU opens the season Tuesday night with two returning starters in its lineup at tip-off but the expectation is that the Lopes are capable of extending their streak of four consecutive 20-win seasons, a run only 28 other programs have entering this season.

That regard for GCU basketball is a nod to what seventh-year head coach Dan Majerle has built and the respect, or fear, that returning leading scorers Carlos Johnson and Alessandro Lever have earned. The proving ground starts when the Lopes' regular season begins with a 7 p.m. Tuesday game against Division II power Davenport at GCU Arena.

GCU has unveiled a shorter look this season, in height and depth, but also one that can be swifter on offense and more active on defense.

"You put a lot of trust in your guys when you do that," Majerle said of uptempo offense.

"Players dictate how we're going to play and what's going to be successful, whether that's fast or we have to slow it down. That will all dictate itself as we go through experiences and games and figure out who we are. I think it's going to be a process."

The Lopes are opening the season with a starting lineup of two returnees (Johnson and Lever), two Division I transfers (Northwestern 6-foot-2 guard Isiah Brown and Colorado State 6-7 forward Lorenzo Jenkins) and one freshman (5-11 point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr.).

Johnson and Lever combined for 26.8 points per game last season and were voted to the coaches' Preseason All-WAC first team this year. They give GCU two players who can create offense and stretch defenses with 3-point shooting at the slightly longer NCAA distance (now 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches to be 1 feet, 4 ¾ inches longer). Each also can get to the free throw line, whether it be Johnson's ability to drive and finish in traffic or Lever's post-up game.

Jenkins, a graduate transfer, complements Lever as another frontline player with long-distance shooting and a jump hook but also ballhandling and passing ability as a player who grew up as a guard.

After sitting out a season following his transfer, Brown showed his potential impact with a 26-point impact as a junior combo guard with an array of mid-range, floater and driving shots. He also will back up the point guard position.

"I want to win," Brown said. "Me and Coach Majerle are wired the same way to do what it takes to win."

Blacksher is being handed the keys to the program early after winning four state championships at Phoenix Shadow Mountain High School, where Johnson and teammate J.J. Rhymes also played.
He is a classic point guard who looks for teammates before his shot and defends intensely. He got one practice run in front of a sold-out GCU Arena before the Lopes go for their 17th consecutive home-opener victory on Tuesday night.

"I kind of picked it up and got real comfortable," Blacksher said. "The season's starting so I think it's going to take off."

The team is awaiting NCAA certification rulings on senior Oscar Frayer and point guard Jaylen Fisher, who transferred from TCU, and will not have junior sharpshooter Mikey Dixon until mid-December because he transferred last season from St. John's.

That leaves no Division I experience in the bench rotation players – Rhymes, freshman 6-7 forward Bryce Okpoh and 6-10 junior center Louis Bangai, a UNLV transfer who came with new associate head coach Marvin Menzies.

Rhymes is a crafty scorer who plays bigger than his 6-4 frame. He used a redshirt season last year to get into better conditioning after starring at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, averaging 19.6 points as a sophomore All-American.

Okpoh brings raw energy and untested ability and will be asked to develop early but he can help with his speed, length and hustle on the defense that new assistant coach Isaac Chew is coordinating. Bangai will be needed as an alternative big body if Lever gets into foul trouble.

The season begins against Davenport, a Grand Rapids, Mich., program that went 27-4 last season, finished 12th in the Division II rankings and returns five of its seven top scorers. Three days later, the Lopes welcome a promising Illinois team to GCU Arena.

"I'm happy with the guys we have but we just don't have a whole lot of depth," Majerle said. "Injuries, foul trouble, we have to stay away from all that stuff because we're not deep right there. We've got to be in tremendous shape and play through being tired. We're talented.

"Every practice, we've been hard and we play tough and we get after it. We fight all the time. We'll see how it goes in games."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Tuesday, Nov. 5 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Phoenix, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Louis Bangai

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Isiah Brown

Mikey Dixon

Jaylen Fisher

Oscar Frayer

Lorenzo Jenkins

Carlos Johnson

Alessandro Lever

Bryce Okpoh

J.J. Rhymes

Grand Canyon University Athletics