Basketball's back for full GCU Arena party

Saturday, Oct. 30 \| 6 p.m. \| GCU Arena

	WESTERN NEW MEXICO MUSTANGS (0-0)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-0)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra / ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic (99.3/95.9 FM) \| STATS: View

There was nobody that Grand Canyon would have loved sharing a historic basketball ride with more last season than its fans, a home crowd like no other in the nation.

The team, the Havocs and Lope Nation will be back together Saturday night like it's March 2020. The revamped defending WAC champions, with eight new players, have a debut, a reunion and a championship celebration all in one when GCU plays Western New Mexico at 6 p.m. in GCU Arena.

The night will begin with the full Purple Pregame Party and a WAC championship ring and banner ceremony invigorating the atmosphere and then the court show starts with an exhibition game peek at head coach Bryce Drew's second squad.

Junior point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. is the only Lopes scholarship player to have played in front of the usual rollicking sellout crowds at GCU. Junior power forward Gabe McGlothan was on the team but redshirting and five other returnees were first-year Lopes last season, when COVID-19 protocols restricted crowds to the hundreds instead of 7,000.

"It's about to be crazy," Lopes sophomore guard Chance McMillian said. "I'm excited to see what it's going to be like now that we got all the hype from March Madness. The school is going to be a lot more into the games now, so it's going to be crazy.

"Even when we were in the COVID year, it was still loud but we didn't have a lot of people in the arena. So now I'm excited to see what it's going to be like with everyone in there."

Blacksher is also the Lopes' only returning starter, but they have added four Power 5 transfers and have returnees like McMillian, the team's best perimeter shooter, and Sean Miller-Moore, the team's top athlete, back from the 17-7 team that made GCU's first NCAA Division I tournament appearance.

"The majority of our team has not played in front of a full crowd here so they're all really excited for that experience on Saturday," Drew said. "We're a young team from an experience standpoint, with a lot of players playing for their first time on this floor Saturday. So a lot is just getting them acclimated and comfortable on the floor in front of the crowd. We also are finding combinations. We have a lot of guys who we feel comfortable putting on the floor. It's just a matter of finding the combinations that play well together."

The Lopes played a closed scrimmage at USC last weekend and continue to look at frontcourt mixes. The GCU backcourt is set with Blacksher, a Preseason All-WAC first-team selection, and Arizona State graduate transfer Holland Woods II, a fellow Phoenix native, starting and McMillian continuing to expand his role after he made major progress during last season.

The frontcourt spots include another ASU transfer, 6-foot-8 senior Taeshon Cherry, along with McGlothan, Miller-Moore, 6-10 returnee Dima Zdor, 6-9 Nebraska transfer Yvan Ouedraogo and 6-10 Louisville transfer Aidan Igiehon.

"I'm finding my groove right now," Ouedraogo said. "I'm finding my role and understanding what my coaches and teammates want from me. I think we've got a good team, especially for a new group because we have good chemistry. We have to stick together as a team. We're going to see if we can stay together when adversity hits, but we're headed in the right direction."

This game will give GCU the material for video work and 10 days of preparation toward the regular-season opener, which will be against Grambling State at home on Nov. 9.

"Any time you have a lot of new players, it's going to be a process," Drew said. "There are things we did well in our first private scrimmage (at USC) and things that we didn't do as well that we've emphasized this last week. Early in the season, you can't emphasize everything. You have to pick which parts you're really going to go after and try to get better at. And once you get better at that, go on to the next one."

Saturday night's game also marks the first time that GCU fans have gathered since the tragic loss of Oscar Frayer, one of the program's most beloved players ever.
Frayer, older sister Andrea Moore and friend Caley Bringmann were killed in a car crash near Lodi, California, on March 23, three days after Frayer played in the NCAA tournament and shortly after he had completed his degree. GCU held a tribute to Frayer in March and will continue to honor him Saturday night with his No. 4 jersey on the bench.

"There'll be some sadness as we reflect, but there is going to be way more celebration for what he accomplished here and the huge part that he was for our team in getting these rings," Drew said.

Saturday, Oct. 30 | 6 p.m. | GCU Arena

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Taeshon Cherry

Oscar Frayer

Aidan Igiehon

Gabe McGlothan

Chance McMillian

Sean Miller-Moore

Yvan Ouedraogo

Holland Woods II

Dima Zdor

Grand Canyon University Athletics