Grand Canyon University may not have a football team, but does it matter if your basketball team competes at an elite mid-major level? KU practically does this, but spends money on their football team. The university focuses most of their attention to the basketball team, and for good reason. The Lopes close out their home schedule on Saturday against the UMKC Kangaroos, so let’s determine if this blossoming program has done enough to prove that they belong with the little “big” dogs.
Last Saturday night the Lopes took on New Mexico State in the overwhelming GCU Arena. If you haven’t heard from Rick Pitino or Sean Miller, you’re now going to hear it from me. GCU arena is one of the toughest places to play in the country. “The Havocs” are non-stop into the game yelling, dancing, screaming, creating an incredible environment for a big basketball game. And that is exactly how it was on Saturday night.
It felt like New Mexico State had no real shot in the game. The arena was packed and bumping all night, thanks to graduated senior, DeWayne Russell’s 31 points on 38 minutes. At times, this kid puts the Lopes on his back and says, get on, or get out of the way. He has the tools to do real damage to good teams, as Louisville and New Mexico State witnessed. He drives to the basket and will draw a foul, he’ll stop on a dime and pull up from his favorite spot, the elbow, or will dazzle you with his handles then splash a three in your face. It is a damn shame this kid won’t get a shot to play for a WAC championship or in the NCAA tournament, because he has been the glue for Dan Majerle and the Lopes.
Normally I don’t watch games from the student section, but rivalry games are a different story. While I watched this game, I saw total control from a specific 5 on the court for GCU. DeWayne Russell, Josh Braun, Darion Clark, Oscar Frayer, and Gerard Martin. These 5 played nearly flawless for 10 minutes while they were on the court together. The perfect balance of defense, fast break offense, and grittiness were all factors in GCU outscoring NMSU by 10 in the second half.
This gave me hope for the future, as Josh Braun is a Redshirt Junior, Oscar Frayer is a Freshman, and Gerard Martin is a Redshirt Sophomore. The core of what should be the starting line-up, is young to mesh with a talented incoming 2017 class to compete for many years to come. The loss of the nation’s 10th leading scorer in Russell will basically take away the backbone of the Lopes, but this should not give anyone any doubt that this program isn’t ready to compete in the national tournament.
Playing teams like Duke, Louisville, Arizona, and San Diego State in the same year is abnormal for programs not eligible for the tournament. Having an arena that bumps Migos and Future, fans and students that are passionate about the game, and a mindset that “we can beat anyone” gives me reason to believe that the Lopes are ready for the spotlight. The spotlight has just been turned on, and I’m led to believe that this light will only get brighter.