Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 , Loss , 74, to, 79
M Basketball
at Baylor
L 74-79
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
7-foot Amenhauser signs with GCU
11/10/2022 5:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Phoenix-area product takes growing game to where mom played
Noah Amenhauser stands out from the crowd, and it is not just because Grand Canyon's newest signee stands 7 feet tall.
Amenhauser is skilled and strong at 240 pounds, with athleticism that puts him on his Estrella Foothills High School's swimming and volleyball teams too.
But he also is genuine and joyful, the traits that had nearly 100 people crowd into his Goodyear, Arizona, campus gymnasium lobby to watch Amenhauser sign his letter of intent to join GCU next season.
"It's been my dream since I was 8 or 9," Amenhauser said. "If my 8- or 9-year-old self could look at me now, he'd be so proud of all I've accomplished. It was nice to think about how I'm going to be at such a great place."
With a vision to grow in basketball and faith as an aspiring pro player or youth pastor, Amenhauser committed verbally to GCU head coach Bryce Drew and his staff more than a year ago.
"We have been waiting a long time for Noah to sign, so we could talk about him," Drew said. "We are thrilled. Noah embodies what a GCU student-athlete should be. He's strong in his faith, in academics and in athletics. We highly anticipate his arrival this summer on GCU's campus."
The Amenhausers moved to the Phoenix area from Kingman in northern Arizona when he was a fifth-grader and attended GCU basketball games with his 6-foot-6 father, Tim, and his 6-foot mother, Heather (then Guiney), a Lopes basketball player in the mid-1990s.
Amenhauser tried to keep his basketball skill growth in line with his body, which shot up steadily except for an occasional four-size increase in shoes in a one-year span.
"I started feeling more comfortable my freshman year and then sophomore year was when I really started feeling good in my body," Amenhauser said. "I developed more muscle and started to get more coordination."
Amenhauser averaged 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds as an Estrella Foothills sophomore and was headed for another level as junior, averaging 20 points in four games before a season-ending dislocated kneecap and torn medial collateral ligament.
After calling off summer club ball to be cautious, Amenhauser just wrapped up a swimming season by being part of a 400-yard freestyle relay school record and is practicing with fervor for his return to the court.
"Noah has really nice footwork in the post," 11-year Estrella Foothills basketball head coach Rich Gutwein said. "He's versatile. He's got nice touch from the 3-point line. He's a dynamic rebounder and I think he can be even more dynamic as he continues to challenge himself. His touch around the basket and his ability to face up is a problem for people. On the defensive end, he provides so much help and protects the rim wonderfully."
While other recruiters took a wait-and-see approach to a young, raw Amenhauser, the GCU staff showed an early belief that was rewarded with his early commitment. Waves of college coaches kept recruiting him, but they discovered how firm he was in his intentions and how ideal GCU was as a match.
"I really don't think there could be a better fit for Noah," Gutwein said.
Amenhauser wears a purple GCU wristband in high school practices and watches Lopes games with familiarity for the players who he met and even glee for thinking of Drew yelling at him next season. As a 7-footer, the idea of looking future teammates and assistant coach Casey Shaw in the eye is amazing.
"It's weird to feel normal," Amenhauser said.
But Amenhauser's talent and potential is anything but normal.
He talks about being a physical big man who can score from the post to the 3-point line while embracing Drew's defense. He has been enthralled wtih the idea of doing all of that for a renown college basketball environment after attending last year's Midnight Madness.
"It was one of the coolest places ever," Amenhauser said. "I had goosebumps all night. There was so much jumping and yelling. It's still something I can't get my head wrapped around that all those kids are going to be cheering for me eventually."
But Amenhauser is also grounded in his faith and for life beyond basketball. He intends to major in Biblical Studies.
"The dream is for basketball to work out overseas or the NBA," Amenhauser said. "But if it doesn't work out, I want to be a high school pastor. So having those Monday chapels with the arena filled and to have that love and connection with Christ, you don't have that on any other campus. It is a big reason why I decided to come there."
(Signing photos courtesy of Jacque Joanou)
Amenhauser is skilled and strong at 240 pounds, with athleticism that puts him on his Estrella Foothills High School's swimming and volleyball teams too.But he also is genuine and joyful, the traits that had nearly 100 people crowd into his Goodyear, Arizona, campus gymnasium lobby to watch Amenhauser sign his letter of intent to join GCU next season.
"It's been my dream since I was 8 or 9," Amenhauser said. "If my 8- or 9-year-old self could look at me now, he'd be so proud of all I've accomplished. It was nice to think about how I'm going to be at such a great place."
With a vision to grow in basketball and faith as an aspiring pro player or youth pastor, Amenhauser committed verbally to GCU head coach Bryce Drew and his staff more than a year ago.
"We have been waiting a long time for Noah to sign, so we could talk about him," Drew said. "We are thrilled. Noah embodies what a GCU student-athlete should be. He's strong in his faith, in academics and in athletics. We highly anticipate his arrival this summer on GCU's campus."
The Amenhausers moved to the Phoenix area from Kingman in northern Arizona when he was a fifth-grader and attended GCU basketball games with his 6-foot-6 father, Tim, and his 6-foot mother, Heather (then Guiney), a Lopes basketball player in the mid-1990s.Amenhauser tried to keep his basketball skill growth in line with his body, which shot up steadily except for an occasional four-size increase in shoes in a one-year span.
"I started feeling more comfortable my freshman year and then sophomore year was when I really started feeling good in my body," Amenhauser said. "I developed more muscle and started to get more coordination."
Amenhauser averaged 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds as an Estrella Foothills sophomore and was headed for another level as junior, averaging 20 points in four games before a season-ending dislocated kneecap and torn medial collateral ligament.
After calling off summer club ball to be cautious, Amenhauser just wrapped up a swimming season by being part of a 400-yard freestyle relay school record and is practicing with fervor for his return to the court.
"Noah has really nice footwork in the post," 11-year Estrella Foothills basketball head coach Rich Gutwein said. "He's versatile. He's got nice touch from the 3-point line. He's a dynamic rebounder and I think he can be even more dynamic as he continues to challenge himself. His touch around the basket and his ability to face up is a problem for people. On the defensive end, he provides so much help and protects the rim wonderfully."While other recruiters took a wait-and-see approach to a young, raw Amenhauser, the GCU staff showed an early belief that was rewarded with his early commitment. Waves of college coaches kept recruiting him, but they discovered how firm he was in his intentions and how ideal GCU was as a match.
"I really don't think there could be a better fit for Noah," Gutwein said.
Amenhauser wears a purple GCU wristband in high school practices and watches Lopes games with familiarity for the players who he met and even glee for thinking of Drew yelling at him next season. As a 7-footer, the idea of looking future teammates and assistant coach Casey Shaw in the eye is amazing.
"It's weird to feel normal," Amenhauser said.
But Amenhauser's talent and potential is anything but normal.
He talks about being a physical big man who can score from the post to the 3-point line while embracing Drew's defense. He has been enthralled wtih the idea of doing all of that for a renown college basketball environment after attending last year's Midnight Madness.
"It was one of the coolest places ever," Amenhauser said. "I had goosebumps all night. There was so much jumping and yelling. It's still something I can't get my head wrapped around that all those kids are going to be cheering for me eventually."
But Amenhauser is also grounded in his faith and for life beyond basketball. He intends to major in Biblical Studies.
"The dream is for basketball to work out overseas or the NBA," Amenhauser said. "But if it doesn't work out, I want to be a high school pastor. So having those Monday chapels with the arena filled and to have that love and connection with Christ, you don't have that on any other campus. It is a big reason why I decided to come there."
(Signing photos courtesy of Jacque Joanou)
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