Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus San Diego State on February 4, 2026 , Win , 57, to, 44
W Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 57-44
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Jayden Todd
Better call Sallman: Lopes land impact center
6/19/2026 10:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
6-foot-3 Egyptian brings international, Division I experience to GCU
The list of available players with experience as an international player and a part-time Division I starter while also reaching the NCAA Tournament is a short one.
But Jana "Tika" Sallman is even more valuable as a tall order in the paint. Grand Canyon added a much-needed interior presence in the 6-foot-3 senior from Cairo, Egypt who was producing 8.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game at William & Mary last season … in only 18.5 minutes per game.
"I wanted to go big my last year," Sallman said of choosing GCU. "This will help me a lot.
"I felt the approach from Coach Winston (Gandy) and the whole staff. You feel how the coaches really want you before I even came to visit. I felt how they really wanted to compete next season. After my visit, I already had my decision made. I loved the campus. I loved the people. They were so welcoming, and everything just felt right."
The Lopes always wanted to go big with a player who played one season at Memphis before expanding her role the past two seasons at William & Mary, which reached its first NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed when Sallman was a sophomore cutting down Colonial Athletic Association Championship nets.
With four career double-doubles, Sallman has posted monster numbers at times with five games of 19 or more points, including a 25-point, 12-rebound, four-block effort off the bench in February against Towson.
"Awesome personality, awesome person," said Gandy, who watched Sallman play international games since she was 18. "She's somebody that's gotten better every year. When you think about stability and being proven, she may have been one of our more productive players on a per-minute basis. She wasn't a high-minutes player. It's hard for a post player, but she produced.
"She brings a little bit of a known entity. You know what you're going to get when she's on the floor. We really wanted to move the needle from a size standpoint and from a presence standpoint. She helps us from the standpoint. It's one thing to have the measurables, but it's another to have the measurables with production, which she definitely brings. I couldn't be more excited to have her."
Sallman was born and raised in Cairo, starting to play basketball at age 3 because her father, Tarek, was a former Egyptian National Team and club player who serves on the national basketball program's board. She has played on Egypt's age-group national teams since making the under-16 squad and left Cairo to play her high school senior season in Hudson, Ohio, at Western Reserve Academy.
"I didn't really get to choose to play, but growing up, I loved to play," said Sallman, whose role model is her father. "I'm glad he put me in basketball."
Sallman, whose nickname "Tika" is a derivative of taking her father's name, Tarek, as her middle name, can speak Arabic, English and French but is still adapting to the nuances of the more physical, faster-paced American game. She showed her efficiency last season with 47.4% shooting and her two-way impact with as many as six blocked shots in a game as a reserve.
"I love playing around the rim," Sallman said. "That's my go-to. I can score whatever around the rim. I have a very good touch. I have a finesse in my game. I love the hook shot and can go left or right. I love different moves and to go without thinking – just read the game and play."
Her per-game averages and role have grown with each season, setting up her expectations to improve herself and the GCU program this season. Sallman showed how she impacted winning last season when she played five more than minutes per game in wins (20.6) than losses (15.2) and more than doubled her scoring in those wins (11.0 vs. 5.2).
"Last year, I definitely gained confidence," Sallman said. "I wanted the ball more because this confidence kept building over and over every time I scored more. I had rebounding skills, but last year I focused more to get a higher number than I've had in my college year. I had a target and kept focusing on that in practices.
"I definitely know what I'm capable of. It's good to have a coaching staff and teammates around you to support you. GCU has all that."
That ability to grow as a player in the GCU Basketball Facility before she steps foot on the Global Credit Union Arena floor was part of the attraction for Sallman, who aspires to a basketball career after college for Egypt and professionally.
Basketball may not be Egypt's favorite sport, or even one of the next favorites. But she felt the priority of basketball at GCU and how much her talents were valued.
"Coach Winston made it very clear that my position is needed and how that would make an important impact on the team," Sallman said. "I can shoot the 3 and play forward well, but it's more under the rim and back to the basket. He liked that and talked about how he would upgrade my game to be more of a forward/center. I definitely felt valued every time I talked to anyone on the coaching staff.
"I'm definitely much better than how I started when I first came to the U.S., but I'm still learning. I always challenge myself. I always want to go bigger and bigger."
But Jana "Tika" Sallman is even more valuable as a tall order in the paint. Grand Canyon added a much-needed interior presence in the 6-foot-3 senior from Cairo, Egypt who was producing 8.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game at William & Mary last season … in only 18.5 minutes per game.
"I wanted to go big my last year," Sallman said of choosing GCU. "This will help me a lot.
"I felt the approach from Coach Winston (Gandy) and the whole staff. You feel how the coaches really want you before I even came to visit. I felt how they really wanted to compete next season. After my visit, I already had my decision made. I loved the campus. I loved the people. They were so welcoming, and everything just felt right."
The Lopes always wanted to go big with a player who played one season at Memphis before expanding her role the past two seasons at William & Mary, which reached its first NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed when Sallman was a sophomore cutting down Colonial Athletic Association Championship nets.
With four career double-doubles, Sallman has posted monster numbers at times with five games of 19 or more points, including a 25-point, 12-rebound, four-block effort off the bench in February against Towson.
"Awesome personality, awesome person," said Gandy, who watched Sallman play international games since she was 18. "She's somebody that's gotten better every year. When you think about stability and being proven, she may have been one of our more productive players on a per-minute basis. She wasn't a high-minutes player. It's hard for a post player, but she produced.
"She brings a little bit of a known entity. You know what you're going to get when she's on the floor. We really wanted to move the needle from a size standpoint and from a presence standpoint. She helps us from the standpoint. It's one thing to have the measurables, but it's another to have the measurables with production, which she definitely brings. I couldn't be more excited to have her."
Sallman was born and raised in Cairo, starting to play basketball at age 3 because her father, Tarek, was a former Egyptian National Team and club player who serves on the national basketball program's board. She has played on Egypt's age-group national teams since making the under-16 squad and left Cairo to play her high school senior season in Hudson, Ohio, at Western Reserve Academy.
"I didn't really get to choose to play, but growing up, I loved to play," said Sallman, whose role model is her father. "I'm glad he put me in basketball."
Sallman, whose nickname "Tika" is a derivative of taking her father's name, Tarek, as her middle name, can speak Arabic, English and French but is still adapting to the nuances of the more physical, faster-paced American game. She showed her efficiency last season with 47.4% shooting and her two-way impact with as many as six blocked shots in a game as a reserve.
"I love playing around the rim," Sallman said. "That's my go-to. I can score whatever around the rim. I have a very good touch. I have a finesse in my game. I love the hook shot and can go left or right. I love different moves and to go without thinking – just read the game and play."
Her per-game averages and role have grown with each season, setting up her expectations to improve herself and the GCU program this season. Sallman showed how she impacted winning last season when she played five more than minutes per game in wins (20.6) than losses (15.2) and more than doubled her scoring in those wins (11.0 vs. 5.2).
"Last year, I definitely gained confidence," Sallman said. "I wanted the ball more because this confidence kept building over and over every time I scored more. I had rebounding skills, but last year I focused more to get a higher number than I've had in my college year. I had a target and kept focusing on that in practices.
"I definitely know what I'm capable of. It's good to have a coaching staff and teammates around you to support you. GCU has all that."
That ability to grow as a player in the GCU Basketball Facility before she steps foot on the Global Credit Union Arena floor was part of the attraction for Sallman, who aspires to a basketball career after college for Egypt and professionally.
Basketball may not be Egypt's favorite sport, or even one of the next favorites. But she felt the priority of basketball at GCU and how much her talents were valued.
"Coach Winston made it very clear that my position is needed and how that would make an important impact on the team," Sallman said. "I can shoot the 3 and play forward well, but it's more under the rim and back to the basket. He liked that and talked about how he would upgrade my game to be more of a forward/center. I definitely felt valued every time I talked to anyone on the coaching staff.
"I'm definitely much better than how I started when I first came to the U.S., but I'm still learning. I always challenge myself. I always want to go bigger and bigger."
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