Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Bryce Wheeler
Leadership steps to forefront on WAC show
10/17/2023 4:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Harrison, McGlothan join Drew for Lopes' 1st appearance as conference favorite
With all the buzz about the potential impact of Grand Canyon's seven Division I transfers, the WAC preseason accolades and conference preview show were reminders for how the Lopes made the NCAA tournament last season and why they are favored this season.
Junior guard Ray Harrison and graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan played their career's best basketball to put the Lopes in the Big Dance last season and bookended head coach Bryce Drew for GCU's Tuesday appearance on the WAC Men's Basketball Preview Day show.
"I think a big key of any program is having good leadership, and we have some great leaders here in Ray and Gabe that have been in our program and know what we expect," Drew said on ESPN+. "What they've done, with a lot of our newcomers, is through some of those rougher days, they do a great job of bringing them along and showing them what GCU basketball is."
The Lopes were named the clear WAC front-runner by the coaches' poll on Monday night, with Harrison and McGlothan reconvening Tuesday morning as two of the five Preseason All-WAC Team choices. Harrison also was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
Harrison, last season's WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and McGlothan were last season's leading scorers (17.8 and 12.8 per game, respectively) with Harrison also topping the team in assists (3.6 per game) and McGlothan leading rebounds (5.2 per game).
"They're hungry and want to achieve as much as possible this year," Drew said. "As we recruited in the spring, that was definitely a target for us – trying to find motivated players who wanted to come and wanted to win. We involve our players a lot in the recruiting process. Ray and Gabe were very much part of which guys we were going to bring in and not bring in. Right now, we feel really good about our roster. We feel good about the chemistry we have. We feel good that we're all aligned with where we want to go with this season."
Harrison arrived at GCU in the summer of 2022 as a Presbyterian transfer and went through a transition period to respectfully see how he fit into the program and its culture. As the season progressed, Harrison asserted himself more and is now part of clear leadership group that can help the team manage the preseason hype.
"The outside noise around the program and the success we've had, it kind of builds the expectations itself," Harrison said. "But on the inside, I feel like we just push each other to the best of our abilities. Our coaches push us. Me, Gabe and Jovan (Blacksher Jr.) push our teammates to where we know we're getting better every day."
The lead-up hits different to the Nov. 1 exhibition game and Nov. 6 season opener against Southeast Missouri for McGlothan, who transferred to GCU from SEMO after his freshman year. Now in his fourth year with the Lopes, the mechanical engineering graduate shared how Midnight Madness was a chance to express appreciation for fans and reflect on what the university has meant to him.
"It's been home," McGlothan said. "It's a place where you can grow freely. For me, it's been huge in my faith. The program that Coach Drew has built has created a safe environment. The people he recruits are all great guys. So being surrounded by a great family to top that off, it's been home."
Other "Preview Day" comments around the WAC ...
Junior guard Ray Harrison and graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan played their career's best basketball to put the Lopes in the Big Dance last season and bookended head coach Bryce Drew for GCU's Tuesday appearance on the WAC Men's Basketball Preview Day show.
"I think a big key of any program is having good leadership, and we have some great leaders here in Ray and Gabe that have been in our program and know what we expect," Drew said on ESPN+. "What they've done, with a lot of our newcomers, is through some of those rougher days, they do a great job of bringing them along and showing them what GCU basketball is."
The Lopes were named the clear WAC front-runner by the coaches' poll on Monday night, with Harrison and McGlothan reconvening Tuesday morning as two of the five Preseason All-WAC Team choices. Harrison also was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
Harrison, last season's WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and McGlothan were last season's leading scorers (17.8 and 12.8 per game, respectively) with Harrison also topping the team in assists (3.6 per game) and McGlothan leading rebounds (5.2 per game)."They're hungry and want to achieve as much as possible this year," Drew said. "As we recruited in the spring, that was definitely a target for us – trying to find motivated players who wanted to come and wanted to win. We involve our players a lot in the recruiting process. Ray and Gabe were very much part of which guys we were going to bring in and not bring in. Right now, we feel really good about our roster. We feel good about the chemistry we have. We feel good that we're all aligned with where we want to go with this season."
Harrison arrived at GCU in the summer of 2022 as a Presbyterian transfer and went through a transition period to respectfully see how he fit into the program and its culture. As the season progressed, Harrison asserted himself more and is now part of clear leadership group that can help the team manage the preseason hype.
"The outside noise around the program and the success we've had, it kind of builds the expectations itself," Harrison said. "But on the inside, I feel like we just push each other to the best of our abilities. Our coaches push us. Me, Gabe and Jovan (Blacksher Jr.) push our teammates to where we know we're getting better every day."
The lead-up hits different to the Nov. 1 exhibition game and Nov. 6 season opener against Southeast Missouri for McGlothan, who transferred to GCU from SEMO after his freshman year. Now in his fourth year with the Lopes, the mechanical engineering graduate shared how Midnight Madness was a chance to express appreciation for fans and reflect on what the university has meant to him."It's been home," McGlothan said. "It's a place where you can grow freely. For me, it's been huge in my faith. The program that Coach Drew has built has created a safe environment. The people he recruits are all great guys. So being surrounded by a great family to top that off, it's been home."
Other "Preview Day" comments around the WAC ...
National perspective
- Field of 68's Jeff Goodman on GCU: "They bring back three of their top four players. Harrison is going to be a stud. Lok Wur didn't get a chance to play at Oregon but was banged up a little bit too. And Sydney Curry is a man-child. You do not want to run into him in a dark alley. Trust me, you're not going to win that battle."
- Goodman on GCU's Havocs: "Those fans were absolutely insane, among the best in the country that I've seen and that includes Duke and Kansas and all the biggest fan bases."
Abilene Christian
- Head coach Brett Tanner: "I do think we had some depth issues last year. It wasn't the roster. It was more me. I didn't go as deep as I probably should have. Our plan this year is to go deep into the bench. When we played this summer, we played 13 guys."
- Senior guard Immanuel Allen: "Being able to help my teammates and being able to see the floor from the sideline rather than being on the floor (while out injured) really helped me a lot. Just to see how different plays develop and different defensive schemes work helped me a lot to better understand the game."
California Baptist
- Head coach Rick Croy: "We like the way our pieces fit together. We like the way we're playing. We all know that we have the maturity to stay locked in on doing it together. ... "
- Senior center and ex-Lope Yvan Ouedraogo: "I'm a competitor. I just want to do whatever I can do to help the team win. If that's playing defense, I'm going to do my best at it and try to be the best defender on the court."
Seattle U
- Assistant coach Grant Leep (head coach Chris Victor was with his 2-day-old daughter): "Coach Victor is such a good teacher of defense. It's not just the system, but how he teaches it and how he holds guys accountable within it."
- Senior guard Cameron Tyson: "The ultimate goal for us is to see us win the WAC Tournament and go to the NCAA tournament. That's been a goal since I've been here. This team, everybody believes we can do that. Nobody is one foot in, one foot out. Everybody is two feet in every day."
Southern Utah
- Head coach Rob Jeter: "It's all about my point guards. My point guards are vital to the team. If you want to look at it as a football analogy, they're the quarterback. They're the guys on the field. For us, it's on the court. They're the guys relaying the messages, keeping the team together. They're going to lead us, so I spend a lot of time with my point guards. We have to be on the same page."
- Redshirt freshman point guard Braden Housley: "We're going to get out in transition and really push the ball. Take good shots. When we're locked in on these things and our plays, we're going to get open shots. We have a lot of players who are able to create for themselves. We've got good offense down low with our bigs, and I'm excited to see what we can do this year."
Stephen F. Austin
- Head coach Kyle Keller: "We thought last year was an anomaly for us, but it'll make us better moving forward. We've scrubbed up what we've tried to do and tried to learn from it … We've averaged over the last decade 26 wins a year around here, which I don't think there are many teams in the nation could match that. Nineteen wins (last season), which most teams would think is great. We think it sucks."
- Senior guard A.J. Cajuste: "If you're afraid of contact, it's going to be a long night for you, whatever team we play. If you come in mentally prepared and ready for contact, that's the best advice I have for you."
Tarleton State
- Head coach Billy Gillispie: "This arena (an 8,000-seat campus facility under construction) will be something special for the Tarleton community, the basketball program, the city of Stephenville, the region that we're placed in. Everyone knows about us playing college basketball right now at the Division I level because of the opponents we've played and the way we've played them. When you add a new arena like we're going to add, it's going to be a special, special deal that is going to continue the escalation of our program and the university."
- Senior forward Jakorie Smith: "My goal is toward the team, winning and stuff. My teammates really put me in a position to do that. Coach trusts me with the ball, and I just go out there and make plays."
UT Arlington
- Head coach KT Turner: "You've got to play extremely hard. You've got to rebound the basketball. We're going to defend. And on the offensive end, we're going to share the ball and take good shots. It's that simple. It's easier said than done, but that's the culture we're putting in place now."
- Junior guard Brandyn Talbot: "First to the floor, we track those. Rebounding is something that was one of the first things he (Turner) said was most important because rebounding wins games. We want to be one of the best rebounding teams in the nation."
UT Rio Grande Valley
- Head coach Matt Figger: "What I had to do was to re-evaluate myself: 'What helped us win 20 games a year at Austin Peay?' Well, it's the way we played defense. We created turnovers. We made teams uncomfortable. You put that back with playing fast, now you're making the game a really hard situation for an opponent."
- Senior forward Daylen Williams: "Last year didn't go as well as we wanted. This year, we have high expectations. If we come in every day with the mindset to attack the day and make the day the best we can and keep that same mindset, it's going to pay in the long run for us."
Utah Tech
- Head coach Jon Judkins: "We try to replace those guys who left, but we're also trying to see what we want, the way we want to play and recruit to that situation. We love guys who are tough. The WAC conference is incredible, physical. We have to have guys that can battle and are really physical and can hold our own. That was one area that we hit really hard. The 3-point shooting is big in the WAC. We did a good job of that last year, so we wanted to recruit some guys who can shoot the ball."
- Junior center Tanner Christiansen: "Utah Tech fits my game well. Playing inside-out and being surrounded by a bunch of shooters really makes things easy for me and then I get shots for my teammates when I'm down in the post."
Utah Valley
- Head coach Todd Phillips: "We're not going to upset the apple cart (from predecessor Mark Madsen). We're going to do a lot of similar things. We brought in similar-type guys. We're going to be big. We're going to be physical. We're going to have a dominant five-man. We want to maintain what we've been doing and the success we've had."
- Graduate center Trevin Dorius: "At Utah State, I felt my role was just board man, just easy buckets, big defensive presence. I was playing 12 to 15 minutes a game, depending on who we were playing against. I'm super excited to be here because I get to do all those things over. I can still be one of the biggest men (7 feet) on the floor. Big presence, quick buckets. But the coaching staff here has given me a lot of confidence and is putting the ball in my hands. We're playing with these great guards we've brought in. All the pieces are starting to click together, and we're going to be a force to be reckoned with, for sure."
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