Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball

The Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball team represents Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. They are a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They are led by head coach Bryce Drew and play their home games at Global Credit Union Arena. They made the jump to NCAA Division I and joined the WAC on July 1, 2013.^[2][3]

Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball
2024–25 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball team
University	Grand Canyon University
Head coach	Bryce Drew (5th season)
Conference	Western Athletic Conference (Mountain West in 2026–27)
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
Arena	Global Credit Union Arena (capacity: 7,000)
Nickname	Antelopes
Colors	Purple, black, and white[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament round of 32
Division I: 2024 Division II: 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2007
NCAA tournament appearances
Division I: 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 Division II: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2012, 2013
NAIA tournament champions
1975, 1978, 1988
Other NAIA tournament results
Conference tournament champions
CCAA: 1994 WAC: 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025
Conference regular-season champions
Pacific West: 2007 WAC: 2021, 2024

During their time as a member of the NAIA, they were national champions in 1975, 1978, and 1988. Since joining Division I in 2013–14, the Antelopes have appeared four times in the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 2025.

History

Grand Canyon College was founded in 1949. In their first year, they hired Howard Mansfield as coach of the Antelopes basketball team, the first sports team sponsored by the school.^[4]

The Antelopes played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) through the 1989–90 season before moving up to NCAA Division II for the 1990–91 season.^[5]

In March 2013, former Phoenix Suns shooting guard Dan Majerle became the 13th men's basketball coach. Majerle oversaw GCU's transition into NCAA Division I basketball in the WAC.^[6] The Antelopes began playing in Division I for the 2013–14 season, and became a full member eligible for postseason play in the 2017–2018 season.

In March 2020, Majerle was fired after seven seasons as head coach of GCU's men's basketball team.^[7][8] In May 2020, Majerle sued the university for breach of contract, alleging that the university did not give reason to terminate him or make any severance payments.^[9] The lawsuit was dismissed the following year with an unclear resolution.^[10]

On March 17, 2020, Bryce Drew was named the new GCU men's basketball head coach.^[11] Drew was previously the head coach of Valparaiso University. Immediately prior to arriving at GCU, he was head coach of the Vanderbilt University men's basketball team.^[12]

Postseason

NCAA Division I tournament results

Grand Canyon has appeared in four NCAA Division I tournaments. Their combined record is 1–4.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2021	#15	First Round	#2 Iowa	L 74–86
2023	#14	First Round	#3 Gonzaga	L 70–82
2024	#12	First Round Second Round	#5 Saint Mary's #4 Alabama	W 75–66 L 61–72
2025	#13	First Round	#4 Maryland	L 49–81

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Antelopes have appeared in ten NCAA Division II tournaments. Their combined record is 5–10.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1992	Regional Quarterfinals Regional 3rd-place game	UC Riverside Chico State	L 61–74 W 88–87
1993	Regional Quarterfinals Regional 3rd-place game	Cal State Bakersfield Chico State	L 68–98 W 103–98
1994	Regional Quarterfinals	San Francisco State	L 79–84 OT
1995	Regional Quarterfinals	UC Davis	L 88–92 OT
1996	Regional Quarterfinals Regional semifinals	Alaska-Anchorage Cal State Bakersfield	W 105–96 OT L 65–71
1997	Regional Quarterfinals Regional semifinals	UC Davis Cal State Bakersfield	W 78–66 L 70–80
1998	Regional Quarterfinals	Cal State Los Angeles	L 58–53
2007	Regional Quarterfinals Regional semifinals	Seattle Pacific Humboldt State	W 87–65 L 81–95
2012	Regional Quarterfinals	Western Washington	L 73–79
2013	Regional Quarterfinals	Seattle Pacific	L 59–85

NAIA tournament results

The Antelopes have appeared in 10 NAIA tournaments. Their combined record is 18–7 and they are three-time NAIA national champions (1975, 1978, 1988).

Bayard Forrest led the Antelopes to the 1975 national title.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1973	First round	Winona State	L 64–70
1974	First round Second Round	Virginia State Indiana (PA)	W 67–65 L 65–66
1975	First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Willamette Illinois Wesleyan Wisconsin-Parkside Alcorn State Midwestern State	W 83–60 W 66–63 W 70–54 W 88–68 W 65–54
1976	First round Second Round	Central State (OH) Newberry	W 57–52 L 58–65
1978	First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Cumberland Hawaiʻi-Hilo Central State (OH) Texas A&M-Commerce Nebraska-Kearney	W 70–64 W 83–67 W 88–82 5OT W 74–69 W 79–75
1979	First round	Marymount (KS)	L 74–79
1980	First round	Clarion	L 75–83
1988	First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Hastings Fort Hays State College of Idaho Waynesburg Auburn-Montgomery	W 103–75 W 101–95 W 99–96 OT W 108–106 W 88–86 OT
1989	First round	Western Montana	L 65–79
1990	First round Second Round	Briar Cliff South Carolina-Upstate	W 72–66 L 69–75

CIT results

The Antelopes have appeared in three Division I CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2014	First Round	Pacific	L 67–69
2015	First Round	Northern Arizona	L 70–75
2016	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	South Carolina State Jackson State Coastal Carolina	W 78–74 W 64–54 L 58–60

CBI results

The Antelopes have appeared in the Division I College Basketball Invitational (CBI) two times. Their combined record is 0–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2018	First Round	Mercer	L 73–78
2019	First Round	West Virginia	L 63–77

Record year-by-year

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Grand Canyon (Great Northwest Conference) (1949–1994)
1990–1991	Leighton McCrary	19–11[13]	5–3
1991–1992	Leighton McCrary	21–7[14]	7–3
1992–1993	Leighton McCrary	20–11[15]	7–5
1993–1994	Leighton McCrary	14–15[16]	6–6
Grand Canyon (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (1994–2004)
1994–1995	Leighton McCrary	17–11[17]	8–4	2nd of 7	NCAA first round
1995–1996	Leighton McCrary	23–6[18]	8–4	2nd of 7	NCAA second round
1996–1997	Leighton McCrary	23–6[19]	9–3	2nd of 7	NCAA second round
1997–1998	Leighton McCrary	17–10[20]	6–6	T–2nd of 7	NCAA first round
1998–1999	Leighton McCrary	16–11[21]	12–10	6th of 12
1999–2000	Leighton McCrary	15–14[22]	11–11[23][24]	T–7th of 12
2000–2001	Leighton McCrary	9–17[25]	9–13[26]	T–8th of 12
2001–2002	Leighton McCrary	10–17	8–14	9th of 12
2002–2003	Leighton McCrary	9–18	7–15	9th of 12
2003–2004	Leighton McCrary	3–24	2–20	12th of 12
Grand Canyon (Pacific West Conference) (2004–2013)
2004–2005	Scott Mossman	13–16
2005–2006	Scott Mossman	19–8
2006–2007	Scott Mossman	21–8	13–2[27]	1st of 7	NCAA second round
2007–2008	Scott Mossman	12–15	6–12[28]	T–5th of 7
2008–2009	Dan Nichols	14–14	5–7[29]	5th of 7
2009–2010	Russ Pennell	16–16	10–6[30]	4th of 9
2010–2011	Russ Pennell	14–12	9–7[31]	4th of 9
2011–2012	Russ Pennell	19–8	13–5[32]	3rd of 10	NCAA first round
2012–2013	Russ Pennell	23–8	14–4	3rd of 14	NCAA first round
Grand Canyon (Western Athletic Conference) (2013–present)
2013–2014	Dan Majerle	15–15 [33]	10–6	3rd	CIT first round
2014–2015	Dan Majerle	17–15	8–6	T–2nd	CIT first round
2015–2016	Dan Majerle	27–7	11–3	2nd	CIT Quarterfinals
2016–2017	Dan Majerle	22–9	11–3	T–2nd
2017–2018	Dan Majerle	22–12	9–5	3rd	CBI First round
2018–2019	Dan Majerle	20–14	10–6	3rd	CBI First round
2019–2020	Dan Majerle	13–17	8–8	T–5th
2020–2021	Bryce Drew	17–7	9–3	T–1st	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2021–2022	Bryce Drew	23–8	13–5	T–4th
2022–2023	Bryce Drew	24–12	11–7	T–4th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2023–2024	Bryce Drew	30–5	17–3	1st	NCAA Division I Round of 32
Total:		1,194–732	?–??
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

* Ineligible for NCAA Tournament during transition to Division I from 2013–2017 seasons.

Antelopes in the NBA

Two former Grand Canyon players have played at least one game in the NBA.

Name	Draft Year	Draft Team
Bayard Forrest	1976	Seattle SuperSonics
Horacio Llamas	1996	Undrafted