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: David Kadlubowski
Barkley breakout leads him to GCU
4/23/2026 10:25:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
ETSU's leading scorer, rebounder fills Lopes' critical power forward slot
When Blake Barkley was considering Grand Canyon, the Lopes coaches took him down a memory lane of GCU success tied to a line of talented power forwards under head coach Bryce Drew.
From Alessandro Lever to three starting seasons for Gabe McGlothan to the past two years with JaKobe Coles and Nana Owusu-Anane, that production-laden spot has proven critical to GCU winning 73% of its games under Drew. The positional fit and winning nature spoke to Barkley to answer the GCU call at that position.
After leading East Tennessee State in scoring and rebounding for the Southern regular-season champions, Barkley will join GCU this summer in preparation for being a Lopes junior forward next season.
"Blake brings a level of toughness that we like in players," Drew said. "He has toughness and rebounding ability that is needed in the Mountain West. He's a very good offensive player who is capable of scoring on all three levels. He can put the ball on the floor and do a variety of things on offense."
Barkley, who is 6 feet 8 and 220 pounds, grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, as a three-star shooting guard because he was 6-2. When he hit a late growth spurt to 6-8, Barkley attended the same prep school that McGlothan did, Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, as his big-man game developed into signing with Northwestern.
He redshirted his first Wildcats season following a preseason ankle injury and could not crack the rotation in his second year after an early-season concussion. He played 14 minutes for Northwestern, who were starring two-time Big Ten scoring champion Nick Martinelli and current Oklahoma City two-way player Brooks Barnhizer.
"Every day in practice, I played against those guys for two years, guarding them and learning from them," Barkley said. "I took a lot of their traits in their games and implemented it into me. Every day, it was a battle. Those guys took me seriously because they knew I was talented. We talk to this day and they tell me they knew this was going to happen for me."
The breakthrough came last season at East Tennessee State, where his potential met opportunity. He shot 59% from the field and 38% from 3-point range to be chosen to the All-Southern third team and the conference's all-tournament team. He averaged 19 points on 68% shooting in three conference tournament games to cap a season that included three games of at least 20 points and at least 10 rebounds.
Barkley saw a fit for his game when he watched GCU video of McGlothan, who had an Indiana Pacers call-up this season but then suffered fractured ribs to end his G-League season.
"I'm a pretty good straight-line driver and cutter and a catch-and-shoot type of guy," Barkley said. "The actions they ran for him (McGlothan), the way they (the Lopes) got him the ball and the principles they play with defensively really fit my game. It's a great fit. I see myself in so many different ways within the offense and the pieces around it. Being a playmaking piece. Toward the end of the season, they (East Tennessee State) started going to me to make plays. I was the No. 1 option. It was up to me to make plays, whether it was scoring, passing or getting into stuff."
Barkley coincidentally had taken a Phoenix golf trip for a past spring break on which he met GCU students for his first Lope Nation interactions. More came during his recent campus visit. He began receiving social media notifications, tags and comments while he was touring GCU.
"That was pretty crazy," Barkley said. "I'd never had something like that, where the fans were so in tune with the recruiting piece of basketball. It's awesome because basketball is the main sport. There's a lot of responsibility with the basketball team at GCU. It's a really important component of the campus.
"I felt like it was a good fit for me. Also, the faith piece. I'm really big in my faith, so going in there and seeing how everybody is pretty big in their faith and in the culture was really nice."
Barkley's physical, hustling play could win Lope Nation over even more. He has just begun to tap into another level of his game with last season's Southern ranks of 12th in scoring, eighth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage.
"I'm just a hard-nosed, blue-collar, high-motor guy," Barkley said. "Everywhere I've been, I've impacted winning and that's the biggest piece of college basketball right now. I impact winning in so many different ways. I'm super-efficient to where I get around the rim, I make the right plays and I guess you can say my teammates love playing with me because I cut all the time, I give outlets and I'm kind of in the right spot at all times. That helps me with my effectiveness.
"Overall, I'm going to be the hardest-playing guy on the court at all times, and I pride myself on that."
From Alessandro Lever to three starting seasons for Gabe McGlothan to the past two years with JaKobe Coles and Nana Owusu-Anane, that production-laden spot has proven critical to GCU winning 73% of its games under Drew. The positional fit and winning nature spoke to Barkley to answer the GCU call at that position.
After leading East Tennessee State in scoring and rebounding for the Southern regular-season champions, Barkley will join GCU this summer in preparation for being a Lopes junior forward next season."Blake brings a level of toughness that we like in players," Drew said. "He has toughness and rebounding ability that is needed in the Mountain West. He's a very good offensive player who is capable of scoring on all three levels. He can put the ball on the floor and do a variety of things on offense."
Barkley, who is 6 feet 8 and 220 pounds, grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, as a three-star shooting guard because he was 6-2. When he hit a late growth spurt to 6-8, Barkley attended the same prep school that McGlothan did, Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, as his big-man game developed into signing with Northwestern.
He redshirted his first Wildcats season following a preseason ankle injury and could not crack the rotation in his second year after an early-season concussion. He played 14 minutes for Northwestern, who were starring two-time Big Ten scoring champion Nick Martinelli and current Oklahoma City two-way player Brooks Barnhizer.
"Every day in practice, I played against those guys for two years, guarding them and learning from them," Barkley said. "I took a lot of their traits in their games and implemented it into me. Every day, it was a battle. Those guys took me seriously because they knew I was talented. We talk to this day and they tell me they knew this was going to happen for me."
The breakthrough came last season at East Tennessee State, where his potential met opportunity. He shot 59% from the field and 38% from 3-point range to be chosen to the All-Southern third team and the conference's all-tournament team. He averaged 19 points on 68% shooting in three conference tournament games to cap a season that included three games of at least 20 points and at least 10 rebounds.
Barkley saw a fit for his game when he watched GCU video of McGlothan, who had an Indiana Pacers call-up this season but then suffered fractured ribs to end his G-League season.
"I'm a pretty good straight-line driver and cutter and a catch-and-shoot type of guy," Barkley said. "The actions they ran for him (McGlothan), the way they (the Lopes) got him the ball and the principles they play with defensively really fit my game. It's a great fit. I see myself in so many different ways within the offense and the pieces around it. Being a playmaking piece. Toward the end of the season, they (East Tennessee State) started going to me to make plays. I was the No. 1 option. It was up to me to make plays, whether it was scoring, passing or getting into stuff."
Barkley coincidentally had taken a Phoenix golf trip for a past spring break on which he met GCU students for his first Lope Nation interactions. More came during his recent campus visit. He began receiving social media notifications, tags and comments while he was touring GCU.
"That was pretty crazy," Barkley said. "I'd never had something like that, where the fans were so in tune with the recruiting piece of basketball. It's awesome because basketball is the main sport. There's a lot of responsibility with the basketball team at GCU. It's a really important component of the campus.
"I felt like it was a good fit for me. Also, the faith piece. I'm really big in my faith, so going in there and seeing how everybody is pretty big in their faith and in the culture was really nice."
Barkley's physical, hustling play could win Lope Nation over even more. He has just begun to tap into another level of his game with last season's Southern ranks of 12th in scoring, eighth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage.
"I'm just a hard-nosed, blue-collar, high-motor guy," Barkley said. "Everywhere I've been, I've impacted winning and that's the biggest piece of college basketball right now. I impact winning in so many different ways. I'm super-efficient to where I get around the rim, I make the right plays and I guess you can say my teammates love playing with me because I cut all the time, I give outlets and I'm kind of in the right spot at all times. That helps me with my effectiveness.
"Overall, I'm going to be the hardest-playing guy on the court at all times, and I pride myself on that."
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballGCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame Radio with Bryce Drew
Wednesday, March 11
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame Radio with Brian Moore Jr.
Wednesday, March 11
What's Ahead for the Mountain West Tournament?
Monday, March 09
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame with Dusty Stromer, Brian Moore Jr.
Sunday, March 08