Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 at 2 p.m. (MST)
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2 p.m. (MST)
at Baylor
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Blessings flow both ways in visit to children's home
8/16/2023 9:41:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU's trip gains perspective by giving back with clinic at Bahamas orphanage
NASSAU, Bahamas – When blessed with so much, the Grand Canyon men's basketball team knew it was time to be the blessing.
The Lopes were given an amazing opportunity this week to play and stay in the Bahamas, the first destination outside the U.S. for many of the student-athletes and student managers. They gave back Wednesday by crossing Nassau to The Ranfurly Home for Children, where a wall mural reads, "Give to the world the best you have."
GCU players and staff did that by conducting a basketball clinic, talking and praying with the resident kids and giving them Lopes T-shirts, along with their memories and some inspiration.
"It brings us back to where some of us have been in life, where we didn't have it all," said Lopes senior guard Josh Baker, who provided left-handed clinic help as he rehabilitates a repaired right shoulder. "It's a humbling experience. It's beautiful to be able to give back to kids like this and show them what hard work can do to change their lives."
On a day when basketball giants in their eyes were visiting, these younger basketball-loving boys and girls showed wide-eyed excitement to return to their cracked blacktop court, where street traffic is a loose ball away and almonds fall from a courtside tree.
The boy who survived a game of knockout to be the last one on the court with a college basketball player will forever remember how he bumped Gabe McGlothan out to get his victory.
The boy who expressed a desire to become a college track sprinter will not forget how Jordan Jackson, the GCU associate director of sports performance, took him to the side with advice on how to train and an offer to follow up with more questions.
The girl who was convinced at the last second to join a group photograph will be glad she did each time she sees the image (shown below).
When the basketball was done, GCU head coach Bryce Drew gathered the children on bleachers in the shade to encourage their aspirations, which included a girl who wants to be a marine biologist and a boy who aims to be an engineer, which delighted the engineering graduate in McGlothan.
"Whatever that dream is, you get up the next morning and keep working as hard as possible to make that dream come true," Drew told the group.
Drew asked senior Tyon Grant-Foster to share his story, which includes joining GCU this summer at age 23 after missing two years of college basketball for a medical ailment.
"Every day, I just try to wake up and be 1% better," Grant-Foster told the kids. "It doesn't always have to be a big win. You get that 1%, you know you got better. Know that you're one step closer to your goal and doing better for yourself and how you want to be."
Most GCU game days start with a morning shootaround to lock in on the competition ahead, but Wednesday's pregame was dedicated to more lasting life lessons than the outcome of their second Bahamas game.
"It's small things for them," Baker said of the kids. "That's what makes this such a blessing for us. We don't know how much we impact kids until we get here and experience it. It's a big blessing to put some smiles on their faces."
The Lopes were given an amazing opportunity this week to play and stay in the Bahamas, the first destination outside the U.S. for many of the student-athletes and student managers. They gave back Wednesday by crossing Nassau to The Ranfurly Home for Children, where a wall mural reads, "Give to the world the best you have."
GCU players and staff did that by conducting a basketball clinic, talking and praying with the resident kids and giving them Lopes T-shirts, along with their memories and some inspiration."It brings us back to where some of us have been in life, where we didn't have it all," said Lopes senior guard Josh Baker, who provided left-handed clinic help as he rehabilitates a repaired right shoulder. "It's a humbling experience. It's beautiful to be able to give back to kids like this and show them what hard work can do to change their lives."
On a day when basketball giants in their eyes were visiting, these younger basketball-loving boys and girls showed wide-eyed excitement to return to their cracked blacktop court, where street traffic is a loose ball away and almonds fall from a courtside tree.
The boy who survived a game of knockout to be the last one on the court with a college basketball player will forever remember how he bumped Gabe McGlothan out to get his victory.
The boy who expressed a desire to become a college track sprinter will not forget how Jordan Jackson, the GCU associate director of sports performance, took him to the side with advice on how to train and an offer to follow up with more questions.
The girl who was convinced at the last second to join a group photograph will be glad she did each time she sees the image (shown below).
When the basketball was done, GCU head coach Bryce Drew gathered the children on bleachers in the shade to encourage their aspirations, which included a girl who wants to be a marine biologist and a boy who aims to be an engineer, which delighted the engineering graduate in McGlothan."Whatever that dream is, you get up the next morning and keep working as hard as possible to make that dream come true," Drew told the group.
Drew asked senior Tyon Grant-Foster to share his story, which includes joining GCU this summer at age 23 after missing two years of college basketball for a medical ailment.
"Every day, I just try to wake up and be 1% better," Grant-Foster told the kids. "It doesn't always have to be a big win. You get that 1%, you know you got better. Know that you're one step closer to your goal and doing better for yourself and how you want to be."
Most GCU game days start with a morning shootaround to lock in on the competition ahead, but Wednesday's pregame was dedicated to more lasting life lessons than the outcome of their second Bahamas game.
"It's small things for them," Baker said of the kids. "That's what makes this such a blessing for us. We don't know how much we impact kids until we get here and experience it. It's a big blessing to put some smiles on their faces."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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