This week ends in a Grand Canyon basketball home game.
That has not been the case for 33 weeks, and the Lopes' new look is not just about its conference label.
GCU's Mountain West debut season features 11 newcomers, five of which composed the Lopes' starting lineup for their first exhibition game at Baylor.
This week offers a chance to get to know GCU more with Mountain West Media Day on Thursday in Las Vegas and the Global Credit Union Arena introduction of the 2025-26 Lopes at Saturday's 6:30 p.m. exhibition game against USC.
Should GCU's first five remain the same, here is an alphabetically ordered primer on the Lopes' starters:

The agile 7-foot-1 frame of
Efe Demirel, a mid-August arrival from Turkey, looked the part of a Division I starting center before he even began practicing with a GCU team that was two months into summer workouts.
And then he played like one, rapidly adapting to a new country and culture while being coached in a new style of basketball via a second language. Demirel plays with confidence and aggression but inside a team concept, being a willing screener, post and help defender and rebounder.
In his first taste of a college game Oct. 10 at Baylor, Demirel made all three of his shots for a six-point, three-rebound line in 20 minutes of action. He was solid in his opportunities, finishing in the lane twice off penetrations and dishes by graduate guard
Brian Moore Jr. and also dropping a jump hook.
Demirel is accustomed to playing against older professional players in the Turkish league, where he finished his play for Pinar Karsiyaka with an 18-point, seven-rebound performance in May.
"This was his first game in America ever," Drew said of Demirel starting at Baylor. "It is a big adjustment and to have his first game played against (Baylor center Caden) Powell, a veteran who played three years of college basketball already. I was really pleased with a lot of things Efe did."

Before the games count for GCU, graduate
Jaden Henley already has college basketball pundits taking note for two reasons – being a 6-foot-7 point guard and scoring 28 points in the Lopes' 79-74 exhibition loss at Baylor.
Henley showed promise with a career-best season for Mountain West foe UNLV as a junior, when he filled in on point guard duties due to Runnin' Rebels injuries. During that time, Henley won MW Player of the Week with averages of 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in wins against Nevada and San José State.
His penchant for downhill drives drew 4.5 free throws attempts per game last season, and that showed up at Baylor with 11-for-12 free throw shooting. As he adapts to a new system in his first full-time point guard role, Henley showed an ability to correct himself in game after making a pair of early ball-handling turnovers.
Henley, just 21 years old as a senior, went without a second-half turnover and rallied the Lopes from their largest deficit at 65-54. His strong, long frame made physical drives that drew fouls on four of seven possessions before he finished the next drive to pull GCU within four points with less than three minutes to go.
"I love the opportunity, and Drew has plenty of trust in me and so do my teammates," Henley said. "I made a couple of early turnovers. I wouldn't say it was first-game jitters, but it was an adjustment to play somebody new and being solid with myself. My teammates got me out of my own head and got me going."
His 28 points included 8-of-14 shooting from the field (1 for 5 on 3-pointers) and was supplemented by four rebounds, one assist, two steals and three turnovers. He can score on all three levels, showing a pull-up jumper and a 3-point shot that saw a significant bump last season, when he improved from 27% in 2023-24 to 35%.
"Point guard is a really hard transition to play," Drew said. "We like his playmaking. You could see in the first half, a couple of lapses and a couple of careless turnovers. That's one of the adjustments for him. When you're a point guard and you're on the ball, you always have to be on, and you can't take a second off.
"In the second half, he did a really good job handling the ball and finding his position and areas to attack."

The most established credentials belong to graduate
Brian Moore Jr., a 6-foot-2 guard from New York who won last season's Lou Henson Award as the nation's top mid-major player.
Moore doubled his scoring production with a move from Murray State to Norfolk State last season, when he averaged 18.7 points and 3.3 assists per game on 54.5% shooting (39.4% from 3-point range) for an NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Against Baylor this month, Moore impressed with his ability to absorb contact on drives and still finish. He registered an and-one and another score that he followed with a technical-drawing muscle flex. His body control was evident with a reverse score, a spinning pull-up and another drive in which he hung for a clear release.
He added five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 35 minutes of action at Baylor, where his late-game Eurostep was whistled for traveling on GCU's chance to cut the lead to two with less three minutes remaining.
"I'm just bringing a lot of energy and a lot of toughness," Moore said. "I bring that New York toughness everywhere I go.
"We're a really dangerous transition team, so for us to be aggressive and physical on the defensive end will create easy offense."

No player was as excited to get on the court against another team as graduate power forward
Nana Owusu-Anane, who had not played since March 17, 2024.
Owusu-Anane suffered a shoulder injury before his last season at Brown, where he redshirted before taking his powerful, savvy game to GCU.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder was honored on the All-Ivy League second team in 2023-24 for averaging 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds, but the expected expansion of his game was delayed until this season.
In the rust-buster at Baylor, Owusu-Anane logged a team-high 36 minutes and led GCU in rebounds (eight) and blocked shots (two). He also added three assists and six points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Most of Owusu-Anane's misses came in the lane or at the post. His shots were blocked twice, but he showed range with a banked jumper and a 3-pointer.
One of the intriguing factors about Owusu-Anane's game is his ability to bring the ball upcourt after a rebound. He is an excellent ball-handler for his size and shows strong decision-making and good touch in his passing.
"It was a long calendar year and a half for him, and he played against a really good player," Drew said of Owusu-Anane. "(Dan) Skillings is a proven player, and I thought Skillings did a really good job guarding him. But I loved Nana's urgency and aggressiveness. I loved his fight. He never quit. He'll score the ball better for us, but he did a lot of really good things for us out there."

Junior guard
Dusty Stromer may be the most well-known GCU player after a teammate's injury pressed him into starting duty for his first 15 career games at Gonzaga.
After the baptism by fire in 2023-24 and two seasons in the Zags' rotation for 69 games, Stromer slides his long 6-foot-6 frame into a wing spot with two-way ability at GCU. Stromer's instincts and hustle disrupt passing lanes and win 50-50 balls when he is not showing one of the best long-distance shooting strokes on the team.
Stromer was the Lopes' second-leading scorer (15 points) and top playmaker (four assists to one turnover) in the exhibition game at Baylor. He went 6 for 13 from the field, making 2 of 7 3-pointers.
He scored from a variety spots on the floor, hitting a corner 3 and a baseline jumper but also getting transition and half-court finishes.
"I play hard," Stromer said. "Every chance I step on the court, I play as hard as I can. People are going to see a lot of that this year."
Stromer also was the primary defender on Baylor guard Obi Agbim, who went 2 for 10 from the field for five points after averaging 17.6 points at Wyoming last season.
"I thought Dusty's defense was outstanding," Drew said. "We're asking Dusty to do a lot more in the role he is in. He's going to have to defend and also be able to score. He's much better than a 2-for-7 3-point shooter. He'll make some of those shots."