Western Athletic Conference coaches picked Grand Canyon’s men’s basketball team to win the conference title, and chose the Lopes’ Tyon Grant-Foster as the Preseason Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Grant-Foster, a 6-foot-7 guard, was the WAC Player of the Year after last season, when he led the conference in scoring at 20 points a game, and fueled GCU’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
GCU returns five of its top six scorers from a 30-win season, led by Grant-Foster, guards Ray Harrison and Collin Moore, center Duke Brennan and wing Lok Wur.
Former TCU forward JaKobe Coles, added in the offseason through the transfer portal, gives the Lopes a boost after Gabe McGlothan finished his college career. The Lopes also are boosted by the addition of last season’s WAC Freshman of the Year, guard Makaih Williams, who transferred from UT Arlington.
Coaches can’t vote for their own team. GCU received eight first-place votes in the nine-team conference. UT Arlington was picked to finish second, followed by Seattle U (one first-place vote), California Baptist and Utah Valley in the preseason rankings.
Grant-Foster, who was named the WAC Tournament Outstanding Player last season, also averaged 6.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in his first college season in two years last year. He averaged 25 points and 7.5 rebounds in two conference tournament games. He tested the NBA waters, before deciding to return to GCU to play his final college basketball season.
Grant-Foster and Harrison were featured on the WAC preview show on ESPN+ on Tuesday. Grant-Foster was asked about the feedback he got from NBA teams during his combine work.
“Just really making the easy play,” he said. “They know I can make the difficult shot, the tough plays. But can I just make one more pass? Just to make the simple play.”
Harrison was the Preseason POY heading into last season. Harrison and Grant-Foster both were named to the 2024-25 Preseason All-WAC Team.
Harrison was asked about the progress of front-court players Brennan and Wur and how that opens up the court more for him and Grant-Foster.
“They bring a level of tenacity and grit that we need in every game,” Harrison said.
There are more expectations on this GCU team than last season with the experience returning and the addition of key players through the portal.
“When you get good players on your roster, when you get players to play together, I think it gives them confidence,” said coach Bryce Drew, in his fifth season and needing six wins to reach 100 in his GCU coaching tenure, speaking on the WAC preview show. “It makes them better. It makes the team better. And it attracts good players who want to come and be a part of it.
“We’ve seen that maturation the last three or four years. We’ve been able to recruit good players. And they’ve stayed at GCU.”
The Lopes play Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 29 in an exhibition at Global Credit Union Arena, before starting the regular season at home on Nov. 4 against Cal State Fullerton.
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grand Canyon men’s basketball picked by coaches to win WAC title
