Lopes land shotmaker in Baker

It is not hard to decipher how Josh Baker wound up with Grand Canyon when it was the only place he would consider for a transfer this year.

When Baker entered the NCAA transfer portal, the 6-foot-4 guard from crosstown Tempe McClintock High School stipulated that he only wanted GCU to contact him about leaving UNLV. After his campus visit, Baker signed to play his final two seasons in purple and quickly felt the local and Lopes love.

Josh Baker

"It's overwhelming," Baker said. "I knew I had a lot of love in this city, but seeing it and actually feeling it is different."

"Playing in my hometown means everything. I honestly didn't know how big it was going to be for me when I was making the decision, but now I'm feeling the love. I'm learning how many people I represent, my family, myself, everybody in my neighborhood and community. It's big and I'm loving it. Everybody looks at it as pressure, but I look it as a challenge and I love what's coming with this."

Baker started 12 of 25 games last season for UNLV, averaging 3.9 points and 1.4 assists in 16.6 minutes per game. That included a 10-point, three-assist game against Omaha and a seven-point, four-assist effort against Air Force. He shot 36% from the field and 94% from the free throw line last season after having 42% and 49% 3-point shooting seasons at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College.

"We are thrilled that Josh is coming back home," Drew said. "He gives us a bigger guard who is capable of playing multiple positions on offense. Our staff also loves his length and versatility on defense."

Baker can play all three perimeter positions, an adaptability that he has shown since leading McClintock to the 2018 state semifinals and being the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference's West Division Freshman of the Year. He also averaged 16.6 points as a sophomore for Hutchinson, where his teams went 42-16.

"I'm a shooter, for sure, but I feel like I'm a very underrated playmaker," Baker said. "I make a lot of pass plays. I can handle the ball. I can play defense."

Bryce Drew and Josh Baker and mom

Baker, the youngest of six kids whose brother Jordan played basketball at Pepperdine and San Jose State, attended Midnight Madness and a game at GCU Arena when he was a McClintock sophomore.

"It was already nuts then," Baker said of the Havocs. "Seeing what it is now is crazy. It's going to be an exciting year. I can't wait to get to it and meet all the fans. The atmosphere is ridiculous."

Off the court, Baker was attracted to the GCU program's family atmosphere, spiritual base and goals to go beyond reaching the NCAA tournament again. He said nobody was happier about the decision than his mother, Judy, who advocated for the Lopes.

"I love Coach Drew and what they've been doing with the team and the culture, as far as building it up and what they've been accomplishing the last couple years," Baker said. "I love how much freedom Coach Drew gives everybody. From watching last year's film, everybody who caught the ball had the confidence to get downhill and try to make a play for the other. I just love the freedom, the spacing, what they've accomplished and the culture that GCU is building."

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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