Jordan McCabe - Men's Basketball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Photo by: Josh Hauser

Jordan McCabe

Title:
Assistant Coach
Years at GCU:
1st season
Email:
jordan.mccabe@gcu.edu
Alma Mater:
UNLV (2023)

Road to GCU
YEAR	SCHOOL	POSITION
2019-21	West Virginia	Student-Athlete
2021-23	UNLV	Student-Athlete
2023-24	West Virginia	Asst. Coach
2024-25	Green Bay	Asst. Coach
2025-	GCU	Asst. Coach

Jordan McCabe is in his first season on the GCU bench for the 2025-26 season.

Four years after a point guard known for slick ball-handling chose UNLV over GCU for a 2021 transfer, McCabe was coming off the first two years of his coaching career when he accepted Drew's offer to be a new Lopes assistant coach in June 2025.

"Jordan is an extremely hard worker who has a great reputation in the basketball world," Drew said at the time of the hire. "He was a very good player and has shown a great skill to coach in his career so far."

"The biggest thing that attracted me to Grand Canyon was Coach Drew," McCabe said. "He has a very intentional way of living life from a faith foundation and a competitive character, where we're going to go hard and do things the right way. I trust in his moral compass and how he runs a basketball program."

McCabe played his first three collegiate seasons under Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins at West Virginia and his final two at UNLV, where he chose the opportunity of a roster with one returning player for new coach Kevin Kruger over GCU.

"It's was Jovan Blacksher's fault for being as good as he was," McCabe said. "I did not tell Coach Drew no. I told Jovan no because I wasn't going to play."

McCabe averaged 4.4 assists when he started every game in the 2021-22 season for an 18-14 Runnin' Rebels team. He kept a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over his playing career.

Those handles are what brought him fame before he even became the 2018 Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin over Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, his friend and competitor who won the state's Gatorade Player of the Year award.

McCabe's skills, which he sharpened for two hours per day in his grade-school years, caught eyes to appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show, perform at halftimes of Washington, Wisconsin and Golden State games and unveil his eye-dazzling handles and tricks at 2011 NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

While living near Seattle, a local TV news story about 12-year-old McCabe's ball-handling drew 2.4 million views on YouTube. Over the years, his TikTok account grew to 235,000 followers and his Instagram hit 196,000 followers as he shared tutorials and clips.

"I happened to play a flashier brand of basketball at the same time the mixtape culture became a thing," McCabe said. "I had a big personality. I still do. It was just happenstance."

But McCabe does draw wide-ranging respect and credentials with many hoopsters being part of the 1.4 million who watched a video he posted about floaters for undersized guards.

McCabe's first year of coaching ended with the West Virginia staff being let go in 2024. He hooked on with Sundance Wicks at Wisconsin-Green Bay but Wicks left for Wyoming before the season. New head coach Doug Gottlieb retained McCabe, who now leaves the Phoenix for Phoenix.