Grand Canyon looks to make yet another March statement in the school’s final season in the WAC.
For the fourth consecutive year, the WAC experienced membership changes over the offseason. UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin announced their departures for the Southland in the summer, while Grand Canyon and Seattle U will do their last go-round in the conference before joining the Mountain West and WCC, respectively, next July.
But in the present, the league ladder has GCU at the top and everyone else in the (rather distant) rearview mirror. The Lopes assembled a 30-win season last year that culminated in a convincing first-round NCAA Tournament win over Saint Mary’s before giving eventual Final Four squad Alabama all it could handle in the second round.
With star guards Tyon Grant-Foster and Ray Harrison back on campus, Bryce Drew’s squad is capable of inflicting even more damage in March this time around. As good as GCU looks on paper, though, few leagues across the country provide as much parity as the WAC. Ut would be silly to count out the likes of Seattle U, UT Arlington or California Baptist in a single-elimination WAC Tournament format.
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Projected Order of Finish
1. Grand Canyon Lopes
The Lopes have established one of the most ferocious home-court advantages in the sport and have asserted themselves as a premier college hoops brand out west. While it may be tough to beat a 30-win campaign and a first-round upset over 5-seed Saint Mary’s, Bryce Drew’s squad has more than enough firepower for a memorable encore.
For starters, WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster (20.1 ppg) returns after an accolade-filled season. He missed nearly two full years with a heart issue before assembling one of the best individual seasons in the sport last year in a remarkable comeback journey. Between Grant-Foster and Ray Harrison (13.5 ppg), GCU has a wealth of backcourt experience and scoring explosiveness that few teams in college basketball can match. On the wing, Collin Moore (8.2 ppg) is an All-WAC defender who electrifies on both ends.
In the frontcourt, Duke Brennan (7.0 ppg) is another returning starter who provides physicality and helps in the possession battle by crashing the glass and altering shots. Lok Wur (5.7 ppg) also averaged more than a block per game last season.
As for transfers, forward JaKobe Coles (10.0 ppg) left TCU as an important two-way contributor on three NCAA Tournament squads. Makaih Williams (10.8 ppg) makes an in-conference switch after earning the WAC’s Freshman of the Year honors in the Tarleton backcourt, connecting on 45.3 percent of his 3s.
The biggest question may be whether the Lopes can earn an at-large bid come March. KenPom favors GCU to win all but one game — Dec. 14 vs. Georgia in Atlanta — but the Lopes won’t face a preseason top-60 opponent. If they can assert their dominance and prevent any major letdowns, the WAC could have its first single-digit NCAA Tournament seed in nearly two decades.
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