Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Mount Royal on August 4, 2026 at 1:30 p.m.
M Basketball
1:30 p.m.
at Mount Royal
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, August 4
West Vancouver, British Columbia
1:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Mount Royal
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Vancouver trip tips with exhibition
8/4/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
Drew gets 1st look at Lopes in game format vs. Mount Royal
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Grand Canyon basketball players and staffers became well acquainted over the past two months, but they are experiencing their first change of scenery this week, going from GCU Basketball Practice Facility's red-brick and Havocs-mural walls to being surrounded by the North Shore Mountains, Burrard Inlet and two foreign gymnasiums this week in Vancouver.
The Lopes arrived Monday evening and get to work Tuesday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. exhibition game in West Vancouver against Mount Royal, a university team from Calgary, Alberta. GCU also will play at Trinity Western, another university team in nearby Langley, on Thursday night. The games will not be streamed.
"It'll be good to get some new guys some minutes together and minutes in our system and just get familiar coaching them," Drew said.
Three things to know about Tuesday's game:
Drew starts with 'D'
GCU has used much of its summer time to focus on the program's defensive principles and expect that side to look ahead of the offense this week in Canada. With mostly newcomers playing Tuesday's game, the ability to take an international trip was helpful because of the 10 extra practices GCU was allowed this summer and getting to put t its work to the test against opponents who are not teammates anticipating what each other do.
Several experienced transfers, including senior point guard Dylan Darling (formerly of St. John's), will make a Lopes debut of sorts Tuesday.
"Dylan is so good on the basketball," Drew said. "He puts so much pressure on the ball. He's relentless every possession, so it sets a tone for other guys on the court. We have some other things on defense with some length. We have a little bit of rim protection from our wings. You add all that together, and we like the potential of this team defensively."
Who is available?
The Lopes have three key rotation returnees back from last season's team, but sophomore center Efe Demirel will be the only one playing on this trip. Senior guards Caleb Shaw and Makaih Williams are being held out for health reasons but are part of the travel party, as well as redshirt freshman Luke Shaw amid rehabilitation for last season's knee surgery.
Darling, junior power forward Blake Barkley (East Tennessee State), senior center Tyler Behrend (Tulsa), senior power forward Omaha Biliew (Wake Forest), sophomore point guard Micah Tucker (Georgia State) and junior guard Jaden Zimmerman (Quinnipiac) all started for their previous programs last season. Barkley likely will be used at either forward spot, and Behrend could play alongside Demirel for a larger frontcourt.
"Blake's just a really good basketball player," Drew said of Barkley. "He finds ways to get to the free throw line. He can make 3s. He can finish above the rim. And he's really physical and tough. I think he's the type of player that, you look at the box score at the end of the game, you're like, 'I didn't know he had that many points. I didn't realize he had that many rebounds. I didn't realize he impacted the game like he did.' He's just always around the ball, and he knows how to play basketball."
New foe gives battle royal
GCU is most ready to exude its competitiveness on someone who has not become their friends off the court this summer. Mount Royal provides the first chance for that, traveling from Calgary to also get ready for its third season under head coach Josh Mullen.
The Cougars went 13-8 last season and reached U SPORTS' Canada West playoffs after tying for second place in the Prairie Division. U SPORTS is Canada's highest level of university competition. In his first year at Mount Royal, 6-foot-3 guard Jacob McLellan averaged 13 points per game last season.
"I'm excited to just to play a game against a different team and go out there and play with this team," said Darling, a Spokane, Washington, native making his first Canada visit.
To read a related story on the Vancouver tour, click here.
The Lopes arrived Monday evening and get to work Tuesday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. exhibition game in West Vancouver against Mount Royal, a university team from Calgary, Alberta. GCU also will play at Trinity Western, another university team in nearby Langley, on Thursday night. The games will not be streamed."It'll be good to get some new guys some minutes together and minutes in our system and just get familiar coaching them," Drew said.
Three things to know about Tuesday's game:
Drew starts with 'D'
GCU has used much of its summer time to focus on the program's defensive principles and expect that side to look ahead of the offense this week in Canada. With mostly newcomers playing Tuesday's game, the ability to take an international trip was helpful because of the 10 extra practices GCU was allowed this summer and getting to put t its work to the test against opponents who are not teammates anticipating what each other do.
Several experienced transfers, including senior point guard Dylan Darling (formerly of St. John's), will make a Lopes debut of sorts Tuesday.
"Dylan is so good on the basketball," Drew said. "He puts so much pressure on the ball. He's relentless every possession, so it sets a tone for other guys on the court. We have some other things on defense with some length. We have a little bit of rim protection from our wings. You add all that together, and we like the potential of this team defensively."
Who is available?
The Lopes have three key rotation returnees back from last season's team, but sophomore center Efe Demirel will be the only one playing on this trip. Senior guards Caleb Shaw and Makaih Williams are being held out for health reasons but are part of the travel party, as well as redshirt freshman Luke Shaw amid rehabilitation for last season's knee surgery.
Darling, junior power forward Blake Barkley (East Tennessee State), senior center Tyler Behrend (Tulsa), senior power forward Omaha Biliew (Wake Forest), sophomore point guard Micah Tucker (Georgia State) and junior guard Jaden Zimmerman (Quinnipiac) all started for their previous programs last season. Barkley likely will be used at either forward spot, and Behrend could play alongside Demirel for a larger frontcourt.
"Blake's just a really good basketball player," Drew said of Barkley. "He finds ways to get to the free throw line. He can make 3s. He can finish above the rim. And he's really physical and tough. I think he's the type of player that, you look at the box score at the end of the game, you're like, 'I didn't know he had that many points. I didn't realize he had that many rebounds. I didn't realize he impacted the game like he did.' He's just always around the ball, and he knows how to play basketball."
New foe gives battle royal
GCU is most ready to exude its competitiveness on someone who has not become their friends off the court this summer. Mount Royal provides the first chance for that, traveling from Calgary to also get ready for its third season under head coach Josh Mullen.
The Cougars went 13-8 last season and reached U SPORTS' Canada West playoffs after tying for second place in the Prairie Division. U SPORTS is Canada's highest level of university competition. In his first year at Mount Royal, 6-foot-3 guard Jacob McLellan averaged 13 points per game last season.
"I'm excited to just to play a game against a different team and go out there and play with this team," said Darling, a Spokane, Washington, native making his first Canada visit.
To read a related story on the Vancouver tour, click here.
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