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: Jack Gilday
New status of Lopes featured on WAC show
10/15/2024 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Drew, Grant-Foster, Harrison talk as conference favorites to repeat
The WAC Men's Basketball Preview Show packaged more than three hours of conference information Tuesday, but Grand Canyon's status as an overwhelming conference favorite with the WAC Preseason Player of the Year and two Preseason All-WAC selections made Lopes head coach Bryce Drew and stars Tyon Grant-Foster and Ray Harrison like keynote speakers at a WAC hoops convention.
GCU's level of program notoriety has elevated after its third NCAA tournament trip in four years resulted in the program's first March Madness step into the second round.
"Grand Canyon is going to be not just good, but really good," said co-host Mike O'Donnell, an ESPN and CBS Sports college basketball analyst. "I think you'll see them inside the top 25 some time this season. They're absolutely loaded. They're a team that isn't just ready to go back to the NCAA tournament, but ready to go back to win games at the NCAA tournament."
That sort of conversation comes from the Lopes going 30-5 last season, winning WAC regular-season and postseason titles, knocking off fifth-seeded Saint Mary's in the NCAA tournament first round and challenging eventual Final Four qualifier Alabama in a second-round loss.
"Players help change perception," Drew said on the ESPN+ show. "When you get good players on your roster and when good players play together, it gives them confidence. It makes them better. It makes the team better. It also attracts even better players to want to come be part of it. We've seen that maturation the last three, four years. We've been able to recruit some good players. They've stayed at GCU and attracted really good players to come to GCU. All of that has worked together to change the perception."
Drew is the only WAC coach who can bring the past two WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Players to tout the upcoming season. Grant-Foster and Harrison were two of the five conference players selected to the Preseason All-WAC Team with Grant-Foster also being chosen by coaches as Preseason WAC Player of the Year.
"It's a luxury to have two Player of the Year-type players on your roster," Drew said. "I view it as something that is great for our program because if they are both playing at a high level, it makes us even better. If one isn't having a great night, you have another player who is capable of just going out and just flat-out winning the game for you. They're much better players this year than they were last year, so we look for both of them to do even better things."
Grant-Foster participated in the NBA Draft Combine in May and received pro scouts' and front office executives' feedback before electing to return for his final college season at GCU.
"It's really an experience that is second to none," Grant-Foster said. "You get all the feedback you need, and I learned a lot of stuff that I can give to my teammates as well. It was a great experience, and I can't wait to do it again next year."
Grant-Foster said NBA personnel emphasized that they wanted to see him "making the easy play. Just simplifying my game. They know I can make the difficult shots and the tough plays and all that, but can I just make one more pass or the dump-down to Duke (Brennan)?"
Brennan, a junior center, and Lök Wur, a graduate forward, are the Lopes' big men who highlight GCU returning five of its top six players, including senior guard Collin Moore. The optimism for the Lopes has much to do with the leap Brennan took in his game last season as a first-year starter and how Wur made a late-season surge that enhanced GCU's fate.
"Their progress has been tremendous," Harrison said of Brennan and Wur. "It's been good to see as their point guard. They just bring a level of tenacity and grit that we need every game."
Beyond five key returners, the Lopes added impact transfers in senior JaKobe Coles, a senior forward from TCU, and sophomore guard Makaih Williams, who was WAC Freshman of the Year last season at UT Arlington.
"It's been amazing just the way that both of them are able to connect with me Ray, Lök and Duke and everybody that's been here," Grant-Foster said. "Makaih is just a great piece. He's wonderful. I love the way he plays the game of basketball. And Kobe, his feeling is amazing. A 3/4 (combo forward). Great mid-range game. He adds a better offensive game than we had."
Drew said the competitiveness of a veteran team has created an offseason practice dynamic that does not allow for any unit to dominate.
Beyond that inner drive, Drew knows the Lopes have a special outside motivator with an elite home environment created by the Havocs at Global Credit Union Arena.
"The energy they bring at our home games is definitely elite," Drew said. "We'll play an exhibition game in a couple weeks (on Oct. 29) against a Division II school, and every seat will be sold out. That's just very rare to find that in college basketball. It's definitely a luxury that we all have, and we don't take it for granted. We're thankful for it, and we want to make sure we play our best and our hardest for them."
GCU's level of program notoriety has elevated after its third NCAA tournament trip in four years resulted in the program's first March Madness step into the second round.
"Grand Canyon is going to be not just good, but really good," said co-host Mike O'Donnell, an ESPN and CBS Sports college basketball analyst. "I think you'll see them inside the top 25 some time this season. They're absolutely loaded. They're a team that isn't just ready to go back to the NCAA tournament, but ready to go back to win games at the NCAA tournament."
That sort of conversation comes from the Lopes going 30-5 last season, winning WAC regular-season and postseason titles, knocking off fifth-seeded Saint Mary's in the NCAA tournament first round and challenging eventual Final Four qualifier Alabama in a second-round loss."Players help change perception," Drew said on the ESPN+ show. "When you get good players on your roster and when good players play together, it gives them confidence. It makes them better. It makes the team better. It also attracts even better players to want to come be part of it. We've seen that maturation the last three, four years. We've been able to recruit some good players. They've stayed at GCU and attracted really good players to come to GCU. All of that has worked together to change the perception."
Drew is the only WAC coach who can bring the past two WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Players to tout the upcoming season. Grant-Foster and Harrison were two of the five conference players selected to the Preseason All-WAC Team with Grant-Foster also being chosen by coaches as Preseason WAC Player of the Year.
"It's a luxury to have two Player of the Year-type players on your roster," Drew said. "I view it as something that is great for our program because if they are both playing at a high level, it makes us even better. If one isn't having a great night, you have another player who is capable of just going out and just flat-out winning the game for you. They're much better players this year than they were last year, so we look for both of them to do even better things."Grant-Foster participated in the NBA Draft Combine in May and received pro scouts' and front office executives' feedback before electing to return for his final college season at GCU.
"It's really an experience that is second to none," Grant-Foster said. "You get all the feedback you need, and I learned a lot of stuff that I can give to my teammates as well. It was a great experience, and I can't wait to do it again next year."
Grant-Foster said NBA personnel emphasized that they wanted to see him "making the easy play. Just simplifying my game. They know I can make the difficult shots and the tough plays and all that, but can I just make one more pass or the dump-down to Duke (Brennan)?"
Brennan, a junior center, and Lök Wur, a graduate forward, are the Lopes' big men who highlight GCU returning five of its top six players, including senior guard Collin Moore. The optimism for the Lopes has much to do with the leap Brennan took in his game last season as a first-year starter and how Wur made a late-season surge that enhanced GCU's fate.
"Their progress has been tremendous," Harrison said of Brennan and Wur. "It's been good to see as their point guard. They just bring a level of tenacity and grit that we need every game."
Beyond five key returners, the Lopes added impact transfers in senior JaKobe Coles, a senior forward from TCU, and sophomore guard Makaih Williams, who was WAC Freshman of the Year last season at UT Arlington.
"It's been amazing just the way that both of them are able to connect with me Ray, Lök and Duke and everybody that's been here," Grant-Foster said. "Makaih is just a great piece. He's wonderful. I love the way he plays the game of basketball. And Kobe, his feeling is amazing. A 3/4 (combo forward). Great mid-range game. He adds a better offensive game than we had."
Drew said the competitiveness of a veteran team has created an offseason practice dynamic that does not allow for any unit to dominate.
Beyond that inner drive, Drew knows the Lopes have a special outside motivator with an elite home environment created by the Havocs at Global Credit Union Arena.
"The energy they bring at our home games is definitely elite," Drew said. "We'll play an exhibition game in a couple weeks (on Oct. 29) against a Division II school, and every seat will be sold out. That's just very rare to find that in college basketball. It's definitely a luxury that we all have, and we don't take it for granted. We're thankful for it, and we want to make sure we play our best and our hardest for them."
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