1st practice sets standards, speed

9/24/2019 3:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

1ST PRACTICE PHOTO GALLERY

GCU returns top trio, adds guard depth to run more

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

The Grand Canyon basketball players anticipated Tuesday morning like a Christmas morning.

The Lopes could not wait to unwrap the first full practice of the season. Once the team meeting, conditioning work, drills and scrimmaging were done, the feeling remained amid the afternoon exhaustion.

"I love it," GCU junior center Alessandro Lever said. "I can't wait to keep going."

That excitement permeates through a team with equal parts of optimism for what is returning – the top two scorers (Lever and senior Carlos Johnson) and most experienced player (senior Oscar Frayer) – and what is being added with a dynamic group of transfers, former redshirts and freshmen.

The team spent the weekend going through an extensive team-building boot camp that finished with a sunrise pool workout and requirements laid out. The primary target on a WAC championship and NCAA tournament trip remains in place.

"Our expectations and standards here are really high, and there's no reason that I should lower them for these guys," GCU seventh-year head coach Dan Majerle said. "In the past, I think I've lowered them a little, but I'm back to my old self so we're really going to push these guys. They know what the expectations and standards are, and I'm going to hold them to them."

The coaching staff, with new associate head coach Marvin Menzies and new assistant coach Isaac Chew joining seventh-year assistant coach Chris Crevelone, set core values for the team to adhere to daily:

Accomplish the team mission
Do what's best for the team
Set an example for the team
Hold each other accountable
Be coachable

Before the team went into its drills Tuesday morning, junior guard Isiah Brown called in his GCU teammates and set the tone for a highly engaged practice. He also changed the word that the team uses to break huddles to "Champs."

"I want to make sure that we're coming out here with a purpose every day," Brown said. "We've got goals and things that we want to do this season and things we believe we can do with the talent that we've got. I'm trying to make sure every day we're focused on that. Every rep, we're focused on that. It's going to be a long process. We can't skip any steps."

The Lopes are coming off four consecutive 20-win seasons and bring back a key trio in Frayer, Johnson and Lever, but the look still will be different. GCU was one of the nation's tallest teams last season but now will play a faster lineup with backcourt depth that moves Frayer to being a 6-foot-7 power forward with speed, shooting and rebounding.

"We've never been better at the guard position, so we're really excited about it," Majerle said. "We've got a lot of depth. We've got a lot of new guys when we put them into the mix. I'm really happy with our team. We're going to work hard and see where we go."

Brown, a Northwestern transfer, and junior college transfer J.J. Rhymes, one of five former Phoenix high school players on the roster, will see their first game action after redshirting last season at GCU.

"I feel a part of the culture," Brown said. "I feel I've integrated myself on and off the court. The benefit of last year was to see the game from a different perspective. Now, I'm trying to put that into getting ready to play. It helps that I've had that foundation behind the scenes."

The guard position is stacked with TCU transfer Jaylen Fisher, a former All-Big 12 honorable mention, and Phoenix-raised freshman Jovan Blacksher Jr. at point guard and shooting guard Mikey Dixon, a January transfer from St. John's who is due to become game-eligible after the first semester.

Colorado State transfer Lorenzo Jenkins, a 6-7 senior, gives GCU another stretch power forward to fit a more uptempo style while UNLV transfer Louis Bangai, a 6-10 junior, provides frontcourt depth behind Lever. Sophomore Gabe McGlothan, a Chandler (Ariz.) Basha High School product, is a 6-8 power forward with bounce, but he will sit out this season after transferring from Southeast Missouri State.

"Gabe is a beast," Majerle said. "He helps us with his leadership. He's really hard to guard in practice. He's a hard worker. He's a great kid. He's just a really good addition. He's going to help us a lot this year by practicing with us. But next year, he's going to be really good."

The GCU offense still will look to find Lever in the post, but the injection of speed and ballhandling will allow the Lopes to intensify their defense and push the ball upcourt more often in transition offense.

"We can kick it up and get into different situations with the 2s and 3s (wing players), but a lot of guys can score," Majerle said. "It should be more wide open with a lot more spacing to give guys an opportunity to attack.

"They've got to want to be able to play that way. It's a hard way to play. You've got to be in great shape to run. You've got to take care of the ball. You give them a lot of freedom so it gives them a lot of trust. They have to earn my trust."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.