Blacksher returns vs. Portland for Colangelo Classic

Saturday, December 16

Phoenix, Ariz.

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Portland

Tickets

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

12/15/2023 1:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes Portland Notes

Former All-WAC 1st-team guard will play for 1st time since Jan. 5 knee injury

By: Paul Coro

Saturday, Dec. 16 \| 7:30 p.m. \| Footprint Center \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	PORTLAND PILOTS (6-5)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (8-1)

WATCH: 3TV (Ch. 3), Arizona's Family Sports (Ch. 44), ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

With each practice throughout the season, Grand Canyon gets incrementally better.

This week, the Lopes potentially got much better.

Former All-WAC first-team guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. rejoined full practices this week and is slated to play restricted minutes in Saturday's Colangelo Classic 7:30 p.m. finale against Portland. It will be Blacksher's first game since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 5 and undergoing subsequent season-ending surgery.

Lynchburg, VA Dec. 8, 2023: Grand Canyon Antelopes guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. (10) during practice in preparation for their game against Liberty at Liberty Arena. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Lynchburg, VA Dec. 8, 2023: Grand Canyon Antelopes guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. (10) during practice in preparation for their game against Liberty at Liberty Arena. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

"Learning how to walk again, learning how to use my muscles again to play on the court, going through screens and shooting 3s, it feels good," Blacksher said. "It's giving me confidence when people tell me I look good out there, I'm getting a lot of, 'You look better than I expected.' I like that one too."

GCU (8-1) is taking its best nine-game start ever into the annual event at Footprint Center, the Phoenix Suns' downtown arena, but still has a way to grow with Blacksher completing his lengthy rehabilitation to boost his team as its only point guard and one of its most experienced players.

Blacksher, a graduate student, and junior Ray Harrison each have 97 career starts and have been the WAC's past two Preseason Player of the Year selections, but have only teamed for 12 games even though Blacksher said he feels like they have been together for three years.

"It's been refreshing just to see him back playing on the court," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said, "Last year, he hurt his ankle before he had the knee, so he's been out for a year. When basketball is such a big part of your life and you do it every day and it's taken away from you, it does change some things in your life. He's had such an appreciation this week to be on the court. You can tell he's excited to be out there. You can see his confidence is building each day the more the ball is in his hands and he sees that he is healthy and can play."

Blacksher was having one of GCU's most decorated careers before suffering the non-contact injury in last season's conference road opener at Sam Houston. In 2021-22, Blacksher was one of six players in the nation to average at least 15.8 points, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and the only one in the group to shoot at least 39% from 3-point range. He is 20 points away from cracking the top 10 of the all-time GCU career scoring list and already is in the all-time top five for career assists and steals.

"His ability to see the open man and make the right man and make the right read will help us," Drew said. "His spot-up shooting got way better the last couple years, and he's done a ton of that in the last five months. Him spacing the floor will really help us."

Harrison has needed to carry a heavy burden as the primary playmaker in Blacksher's absence, but Blacksher has the potential to add dimensions with his ability to run the offense, speed up tempo, defend ball-handlers, break presses and score on all levels.

"I feel the same, but just smarter," said Blacksher, who has been coaching more from the bench as a way to re-engage. "I see the floor more. My left hand is better, for sure, and I wanted to keep my dribbling up."

Blacksher started to feel more like himself on the court in mid-October but also suffered a toe injury at about that time. He said that two-week focus on strength exercises wound up helping him, as did a lot of people -- fans, GCU assistant athletic trainer Chris Elliott, assistant director of sports performance Jordan Jackson and staff with the Lopes Performance Center and Foothills Sports Medicine Physical Therapy.

Life has developed in other areas off the court for Blacksher, who graduated in May in Sports Management and is expecting his first child on Jan. 20 with fellow GCU graduate Courtland Tuttle.

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

"It's been a big year," Blacksher said. "It's exciting, going into 2024 even better."

With no game during finals week, Blacksher had a full week of practice to acclimate to a Lopes lineup of mostly new teammates. He made his first five-on-five practice appearance a week ago as part of the scout team in half-court work before Saturday's win at Liberty.

It has been nearly 11 months since he underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"Every day's not the best day," Blacksher said. "Having the mindset of progressing and getting better, that's the end goal. Some days, I felt like I was ready to play. Some days, I felt like I needed ice."

GCU has played in all four Colangelo Classics at Footprint Center, with Blacksher playing in three of them. He was named the game's Most Outstanding Player in a 2021 win against San Francisco.

This time, the Lopes are playing the nightcap of a quadrupleheader that includes Washington State-Santa Clara (noon), UC Santa Barbara-Loyola Marymount (2:30 p.m.) and Saint Mary's-UNLV (5 p..m.).

GCU is catching Portland after a breakthrough game for 6-foot-5 sophomore Vukasin Masic, who sat out last season after transferring from Maine. The Serbian guard scored a career-high 32 points in an 83-72 win at North Dakota on Saturday. He made four 3-pointers as part of a Pilots team that takes 24.2 attempts from 3-point range per game.

Portland also has a decorated graduate point guard in 6-foot-6 Australian Tyler Robertson, who was the only player in the nation to average 15 points, five rebounds and five assists last season besides Penn State's Jalen Pickett. He is averaging 16.7 points and 4.6 assists this season for third-year head coach Shantay Legans, who took over a program that had three consecutive single-digit win seasons before he getting 19 and 14 wins in his first two seasons.

"They run their actions really well, and they know each other for really good reads," Drew said. "They're big and physical. They have a lot of attributes that make them a really good team."

Lope tracks

GCU received votes in this week's top 25 polls, getting one in the Associated Press poll and five voting points in the USA Today coaches poll.
The Lopes are tied for the 20th-best winning percentage (.889) in the nation.
GCU graduate Gabe McGlothan's next point will make him the 27th member of the program's 1,000-point club for career scoring.
The Lopes are one of six teams with three Quad 1 wins (San Francisco, San Diego State and Liberty), joining Clemson, Houson, Kansas, Purdue and Texas A&M.
GCU ranks second in the nation for free throws made and attempted per game (22.2-30.1).
The Lopes are averaging 5.4 blocks per game, ranking 20th in the nation after averaging only 3.2 per game last season.
GCU junior guard Tyon Grant-Foster ranks 16th in the nation with 21.3 points per game and has made the 12th-most free throws (58).
The Lopes have won five of their past seven games against West Coast Conference opponents.
Portland 6-foot-8 freshman forward Tyler Harris ranks 33rd nationally with 6.6 rebounds per game and is one of three freshmen in the nation who have recorded three double-doubles this season.
Legans guided Eastern Washington to the the 2021 NCAA tournament before replacing former Suns head coach Terry Porter at Portland.
Portland's roster includes eight international players from seven nations (Argentina, Australia, Japan, Montenegro, Netherlands, Serbia and Sierra Leone).
Saturday's game is at a neutral site, but the 3TV broadcast and ESPN+ stream will be called by GCU announcers Barry Buetel and Scott Williams.
GCU senior guard Josh Baker graduated earlier this year in Sociology but took part in commencement before Friday's practice with his teammates watching from Global Credit Union Arena hallway.