Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 at 2 p.m. (MST)
M Basketball
2 p.m. (MST)
at Baylor
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Season preview: GCU fortifies to be back for more
11/2/2024 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
Returnees build hype while newcomers strengthen Lopes' optimism
Next March is much closer than last March, and the feeling that Grand Canyon basketball will write another special chapter to the program legacy is based more on projections than reflections.
The national buzz for GCU comes from five of last season's top six Lopes returning from a 30-5 season that reached the NCAA tournament second round in only GCU's sixth Division I postseason opportunity.
The internal notion that the Lopes could reach their fourth NCAA tournament in five years under head coach Bryce Drew is based on what GCU has been concocting since June workouts.
"We
know what we're capable of and what we're trying to do," said Lopes graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster, the reigning WAC Player of the Year. "We're trying to get the pieces that came to mesh with us, so we can do even better than we did last year."
Seven players return for the reigning WAC champions. Nine were added. The regular season begins Monday night when the Lopes play Cal State Fullerton at 7 in Global Credit Union Arena.
"What carries over is the familiarity with the players knowing each other and their experience together in games," Drew said. "With some of that stuff, you have to go through the fire together. Our core group has done it before. Hopefully, they'll be good leaders for our new guys who are going to have to step up and take bigger roles at the start of the year."
After missing two years of basketball due to a heart condition, Grant-Foster shocked pundits with a seamless return and developed into one of the nation's best players and a WAC scoring champion.
The 6-foot-7 guard formed a unique statistical line of 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, but he has matured into even better form and leadership. He will miss the Fullerton opener and Saturday's Western Kentucky game after working his way back from NBA Draft early entry.
Harrison is GCU's other Preseason All-WAC member with a career 16-point scoring average that puts him nine points away from 2,000 points. He entered GCU as an established scorer and has developed his court vision into a trusted playmaker who transformed again this offseason with improved agility and long-distance shooting.
"I'm expecting a team that is very dependent on each other," Harrison said. "This year, we've got a deep team. Of course, you've got a guy like Tyon who could go out there and get 50 (points), but why would we have to when you've got a guy who can help him there and a guy who can help him there?"
Moore complements the starting lineup ideally as a player who adapted from being Georgia State's 2022-23 scoring leader to making defense his calling card at GCU. He played his first full healthy campaign last season, when he averaged 8.2 points and 1.8 steals to give the Lopes an average of 42 points returning in that backcourt trio. They were a major part of GCU's attacking style that scored 19.3 points per game on free throws, the third-highest average in the nation with Grant-Foster ranking sixth for attempts.
"This year, I feel like we're more talented, but we have to get those young guys to adapt quicker," Grant-Foster said. "If we do that, we can have another great season."
Williams' addition goes a long way for that. He has been a quick study, literally with the speed he brings to the mix.
GCU thrived in most categories to have the nation's sixth-best winning percentage (85.7%), but the Lopes strive to improve 3-point shooting. The Lopes will get a bump from last season's 33.6% team 3-point shooting with internal improvement and the addition of Williams, a 6-foot-2 combo guard who ranked 18th nationally last season at 45.4%
Beyond those four, the perimeter play deepens with two aggressive guards playing their first seasons as Lopes.
Shaw, who is assistant coach Casey Shaw's son and Drew's nephew, has a blend of size, athleticism and shooting at 6 feet 6. After transferring from a freshman season at Northern Colorado, he was GCU's leading scorer in 2023 summer exhibition play but redshirted and strengthened his long frame.
Phipps also muscled up in the offseason, preparing for a transition from being Arizona's top point guard at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix to Division I play.
"The next step is getting game action and having game action against other teams," Drew said. "The freshmen have had really good preseasons. Now, it's seizing their opportunities and taking advantage of them."
Sophomore Malcolm Flaggs (hip surgery) and senior Traivar Jackson (Tarleton State transfer) are expected to redshirt this season. The Lopes also added a pair of Arizona products, freshman Braylon Johnson (brother of Cam Johnson from Pinnacle High School) and graduate Jason Amador (St. Katherine's transfer from Parker High School).
The Lopes are bolstered by their frontcourt, which features returning starting center Duke Brennan, a 6-foot-10 junior, and senior JaKobe Coles, a versatile transfer who p
layed in the past three NCAA tournaments for TCU.
In his first season as a starter, Brennan delivered last season with 58% shooting from the field and 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He reduced his foul rate and played through an injury to be a key cog of interior defense, helping GCU rank 14th nationally for opponent field goal percentage (40.3%).
"Being here for two years, I can really put my feet into this program and help the younger dudes and feel more comfortable on the court," Brennan said. "Bringing back all the dudes from last year, we're ready to go again."
The angst of losing a program-defining standout such as Gabe McGlothan, now with Grand Rapids in the G League, has been eased by what GCU landed for a replacement. Coles, at 6-8 and 230 pounds, brings a different skill set to the program but is an ideal piece for the facets he does well.
Coles can defend any frontcourt position and gives GCU a twist on its look offensively with his tricky mid-range game and 3-point shooting ability (42% last season) He averaged 10 points and showed passing skill last season for TCU, where he was a starter on a 7-0 team before he had a foot injury that was addressed this offseason.
"I've worked on my game for many years, so I'm comfortable in what I can do," Coles said. "Coach has put me and the team into position to be successful.
"I grew up more low post, so I had to learn how to guard big man since I was a kid. Coach trusts me to switch 1 through 5 and appreciates it."
The Lopes felt like they added a player in the middle of last season, when graduate forward Lök Wur emerged into a key part of the stretch run. The 6-foot-9, 215-pounder's work ethic paid off when he went from averaging 2.8 points and shooting 18% on 3s in the first 21 games to averaging and 10.0 points and shooting 42% on 3s in the final 14 games.
GCU also has the ability to flex into small-ball lineups, but the Lopes also will look to the freshman duo of 7-foot center Austin Maurer and 6-8 forward Sammie Yeanay to fill the frontcourt gaps. The learning curve is steep for big men when adapting to Division I size and speed, but Maurer's size and shooting touch and Yeanay's physical maturity and offensive versatility make them factors. Redshirt freshman Dennis Evans, a 7-foot Louisville transfer, will start the season out for health reasons.
The schedule will reveal more about GCU in a hurry with early tests following the Friday opener. The Lopes play Conference USA Tournament champion Western Kentucky on Saturday before the much-anticipated GCU-ASU women's and men's doubleheader on Nov. 14 at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix.
Thirteen of the Lopes' 30 regular-season games will be against opponents that won at least 20 games last season.
"None of us are satisfied with what we've done," Harrison said.
The national buzz for GCU comes from five of last season's top six Lopes returning from a 30-5 season that reached the NCAA tournament second round in only GCU's sixth Division I postseason opportunity.
The internal notion that the Lopes could reach their fourth NCAA tournament in five years under head coach Bryce Drew is based on what GCU has been concocting since June workouts.
"We
know what we're capable of and what we're trying to do," said Lopes graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster, the reigning WAC Player of the Year. "We're trying to get the pieces that came to mesh with us, so we can do even better than we did last year."Seven players return for the reigning WAC champions. Nine were added. The regular season begins Monday night when the Lopes play Cal State Fullerton at 7 in Global Credit Union Arena.
"What carries over is the familiarity with the players knowing each other and their experience together in games," Drew said. "With some of that stuff, you have to go through the fire together. Our core group has done it before. Hopefully, they'll be good leaders for our new guys who are going to have to step up and take bigger roles at the start of the year."
Backcourt players
The strength of GCU lies on the perimeter, where a starting trio of Grant-Foster and seniors Ray Harrison and Collin Moore return with potential rotation additions in sophomore transfer Makaih Williams after winning WAC Freshman of the Year for UT Arlington, sophomore Caleb Shaw after redshirting last season at GCU and Valley-bred freshman Styles Phipps.After missing two years of basketball due to a heart condition, Grant-Foster shocked pundits with a seamless return and developed into one of the nation's best players and a WAC scoring champion.
The 6-foot-7 guard formed a unique statistical line of 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, but he has matured into even better form and leadership. He will miss the Fullerton opener and Saturday's Western Kentucky game after working his way back from NBA Draft early entry.
Harrison is GCU's other Preseason All-WAC member with a career 16-point scoring average that puts him nine points away from 2,000 points. He entered GCU as an established scorer and has developed his court vision into a trusted playmaker who transformed again this offseason with improved agility and long-distance shooting."I'm expecting a team that is very dependent on each other," Harrison said. "This year, we've got a deep team. Of course, you've got a guy like Tyon who could go out there and get 50 (points), but why would we have to when you've got a guy who can help him there and a guy who can help him there?"
Moore complements the starting lineup ideally as a player who adapted from being Georgia State's 2022-23 scoring leader to making defense his calling card at GCU. He played his first full healthy campaign last season, when he averaged 8.2 points and 1.8 steals to give the Lopes an average of 42 points returning in that backcourt trio. They were a major part of GCU's attacking style that scored 19.3 points per game on free throws, the third-highest average in the nation with Grant-Foster ranking sixth for attempts.
"This year, I feel like we're more talented, but we have to get those young guys to adapt quicker," Grant-Foster said. "If we do that, we can have another great season."
Williams' addition goes a long way for that. He has been a quick study, literally with the speed he brings to the mix.GCU thrived in most categories to have the nation's sixth-best winning percentage (85.7%), but the Lopes strive to improve 3-point shooting. The Lopes will get a bump from last season's 33.6% team 3-point shooting with internal improvement and the addition of Williams, a 6-foot-2 combo guard who ranked 18th nationally last season at 45.4%
Beyond those four, the perimeter play deepens with two aggressive guards playing their first seasons as Lopes.
Shaw, who is assistant coach Casey Shaw's son and Drew's nephew, has a blend of size, athleticism and shooting at 6 feet 6. After transferring from a freshman season at Northern Colorado, he was GCU's leading scorer in 2023 summer exhibition play but redshirted and strengthened his long frame.
Phipps also muscled up in the offseason, preparing for a transition from being Arizona's top point guard at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix to Division I play.
"The next step is getting game action and having game action against other teams," Drew said. "The freshmen have had really good preseasons. Now, it's seizing their opportunities and taking advantage of them."
Sophomore Malcolm Flaggs (hip surgery) and senior Traivar Jackson (Tarleton State transfer) are expected to redshirt this season. The Lopes also added a pair of Arizona products, freshman Braylon Johnson (brother of Cam Johnson from Pinnacle High School) and graduate Jason Amador (St. Katherine's transfer from Parker High School).
Frontcourt players
GCU did not garner preseason top-25 votes for the first time in the 12-year Division I era because of guard and wing play alone.The Lopes are bolstered by their frontcourt, which features returning starting center Duke Brennan, a 6-foot-10 junior, and senior JaKobe Coles, a versatile transfer who p
layed in the past three NCAA tournaments for TCU.In his first season as a starter, Brennan delivered last season with 58% shooting from the field and 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He reduced his foul rate and played through an injury to be a key cog of interior defense, helping GCU rank 14th nationally for opponent field goal percentage (40.3%).
"Being here for two years, I can really put my feet into this program and help the younger dudes and feel more comfortable on the court," Brennan said. "Bringing back all the dudes from last year, we're ready to go again."
The angst of losing a program-defining standout such as Gabe McGlothan, now with Grand Rapids in the G League, has been eased by what GCU landed for a replacement. Coles, at 6-8 and 230 pounds, brings a different skill set to the program but is an ideal piece for the facets he does well.
Coles can defend any frontcourt position and gives GCU a twist on its look offensively with his tricky mid-range game and 3-point shooting ability (42% last season) He averaged 10 points and showed passing skill last season for TCU, where he was a starter on a 7-0 team before he had a foot injury that was addressed this offseason."I've worked on my game for many years, so I'm comfortable in what I can do," Coles said. "Coach has put me and the team into position to be successful.
"I grew up more low post, so I had to learn how to guard big man since I was a kid. Coach trusts me to switch 1 through 5 and appreciates it."
The Lopes felt like they added a player in the middle of last season, when graduate forward Lök Wur emerged into a key part of the stretch run. The 6-foot-9, 215-pounder's work ethic paid off when he went from averaging 2.8 points and shooting 18% on 3s in the first 21 games to averaging and 10.0 points and shooting 42% on 3s in the final 14 games.
GCU also has the ability to flex into small-ball lineups, but the Lopes also will look to the freshman duo of 7-foot center Austin Maurer and 6-8 forward Sammie Yeanay to fill the frontcourt gaps. The learning curve is steep for big men when adapting to Division I size and speed, but Maurer's size and shooting touch and Yeanay's physical maturity and offensive versatility make them factors. Redshirt freshman Dennis Evans, a 7-foot Louisville transfer, will start the season out for health reasons.
The schedule will reveal more about GCU in a hurry with early tests following the Friday opener. The Lopes play Conference USA Tournament champion Western Kentucky on Saturday before the much-anticipated GCU-ASU women's and men's doubleheader on Nov. 14 at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix.
Thirteen of the Lopes' 30 regular-season games will be against opponents that won at least 20 games last season.
"None of us are satisfied with what we've done," Harrison said.
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