Few sees GCU comparison to early Gonzaga

DENVER – In Grand Canyon's 10-year Division I journey, the Lopes have made no secret about emulating Gonzaga as the mid-major example of becoming a prominent program nationally.

With 11 Sweet 16 appearances in Zags head coach Mark Few's first 23 seasons and two national championship game visits, Gonzaga is the epitome of what GCU President Brian Mueller envisioned for how the basketball program could showcase the university. And Few sees that as well.

"We get asked all the time from numerous schools, whether it's me or our assistants or our AD or anybody, how do we do what you do?" Few said Thursday at the NCAA tournament press conferences. "And I would say Grand Canyon is probably the closest thing. If you look at what they've built, the success that they're starting to have or have been having, and then the following, their fan base, their home environment. All of those thing would seem to be kind of on par with how we started getting it going 25 years ago."

Few carries many GCU connections. He has a close relations with GCU senior adviser Jerry Colangelo, who was managing director of USA Basketball as Few assisted national team's coaching staffs. His assistant coach is Roger Powell Jr., who was a lead assistant for Lopes head coach Bryce Drew for eight years when Drew led Valparaiso and Vanderbilt.

And Few is close friends with the Drew family – Bryce, in addition to Scott, the Baylor head coach, and Homer, their father who became a Hall of Fame coaching legend at Valparaiso.

"I love the Drew family," Few said. "It's one of, gosh, just one of the greatest, coolest families out there. Just how strong their faith is, how close they are. I don't know of any father or son-son lineage that seems to be able to do what they have done.

"And they're fun. I was on a text chain with all three of them in the week when we all go sent here, so we had some barbs going back and forth."

Hard Knox

The beauty of GCU being at the NCAA tournament is that it truly took a team effort, including the in-season transformation of redshirt freshman Kobe Knox.

Knox already was the team's most improved player over the summer before suffering a minor knee injury that limited his preseason participation. The 6-foot-5 guard from Tampa gradually earned rotation time but vaulted into being a starter as head coach Bryce Drew made adjustments in the weeks after Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s season-ending knee injury.

His versatility defensively has been key, moving from position to position while showing off a vastly improved 3-point shot. Knox has been 18 for 40 (45%) on 3s in his 15 consecutive starts after going 4 for 14 in his previous 16 games. His WAC Tournament semifinal performance against top-seeded Sam Houston may be immortalized, breaking down a national top-five defense by turning clutch with 6-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers and a season-high 21 points.

"The next coming years, Lopes fans got something amazing in Kobe Knox," GCU graduate forward Noah Baumann said. "I'm so happy for Kobe. He really got us going, and his defense down at the end of the (semifinal) game was big for us. He's special."

Uniform swap

Much was made in social and mainstream media about GCU's basketball gear not making the flight with them on Wednesday morning. The gear still arrived in Denver on Wednesday night with GCU head equipment manager Alyssa Shepherd seeing to it and flying from Phoenix with the bags.

In the meantime, the Lopes practiced Wednesday night at Regis University in Denver and used its basketball jerseys but also had ones from Baylor, if needed. Staffers and managers made a sporting goods store run to get shoes.

"It actually worked out," GCU sophomore guard Ray Harrison said. "It was good for us because everybody got a new pair of shoes.

Lope tracks

GCU averaged 82.0 points per game on 53.7% shooting from the field and 48.4% on 3-point shots in last week's four WAC Tournament games.
The Lopes have made the NCAA tournament in two of five chances since becoming eligible for Division I postseason play.
Gonzaga guard Malachi Smith on GCU guard Ray Harrison: "He's a good scorer. He's kind of like the engine of their team. He can do a lot of great things."
Gonzaga has the most NCAA tournament wins since 2013 with 24.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Hard Knox

Uniform swap

Lope tracks

Players Mentioned

Noah Baumann

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Ray Harrison

Kobe Knox

Related Videos