AUGUST 2016Your Alumni Newsletter from Grand Canyon University Office of Alumni Relations in Phoenix, Arizona, United States for August 2016 GCU Alumni News. Monday, 1 August 2016
Dr. Melanie Logue, '93, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, has been named to AZ BIG Media magazine's list of Influential Women in Arizona Business for 2016! The women are selected for their hard-earned track records of professional excellence, leadership, innovation and community impact.
The Lopes are back for their fourth season in NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference. Get your season tickets for our rockin' home basketball games and receive two-for-one season tickets to GCU soccer games with your purchase. Don't miss your chance to select seats in the new GCU soccer stadium.
Are you starting a new job or changing departments? Whether you're a recent grad entering the work force for the first time or a seasoned professional changing departments or positions, don't forget the Four P's for workplace success. Click to find out what they are and how you can set yourself up for workplace success.
FEATURED VIDEO
Don't miss any of the action during the 2016-17 GCU men's basketball season. This is your chance to be a part of the excitement! Head coach Dan Majerle will lead the Lopes to victory and HAVOCS and fans always bring the thunder. Score your season tickets to secure the best spots and cheer on the Lopes against top competition, including Louisville, San Diego State and conference rival New Mexico State. Click here to see ticket pricing and buy yours today! Games will sell out.
AUG. 20 Postive Hits Tour
GCU Arena AUG. 26
D-backs Faith & Family Night
Chase Field
AUG.
22-29 Welcome Week
GCU AUG. 27 Alumni Soccer Game
GCU Soccer Stadium
AUG. 26 Men's Soccer Season Opener
GCU Soccer Stadium AUG. 29 Community Fair
GCU
Grand Canyon Theological Seminary at Grand Canyon University is an Associate Member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). While associate membership is a non-accredited status, the school is taking the first steps in the process of seeking accreditation by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools.
Megan Smith, the U.S. Chief Technology officer and adviser to the President, traveled to Grand Canyon University to meet some of the 200 Chief Science Officers (CSOs) attending a three-day training institute. Smith praised them for their roles as pioneers in a program that she hopes spreads from Arizona to every state in the nation. She hopes they spread creativity, collaboration and caring.
The memory of Kayla Castro, the GCU freshman who died in April while rock climbing at Camelback Mountain, lives on in "Dancing by Your Side (Home Now)," a touching song written by Worship Arts students Kristyn Roberts and Josh Wathen. Roberts was one of Castro's roommates and talks passionately about her friend who, she says, was always smiling and maintaining a positive outlook on life.
Division I Transition
GCU advances to fourth year of the reclassification process
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Division I Transition Mark Oshidari
GCU advances to fourth year of reclassification process
PHOENIX – Grand Canyon University has officially advanced to the fourth and final year of the reclassification process, as announced by the NCAA Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee.
"We are very pleased that the NCAA has decided to advance us to Year Four and into our final year of transition," Vice President of Athletics Mike Vaught said. "Our coaches, staff, student-athletes and so many people across campus have worked very hard throughout the transition process and this affirms that we are continuing to move forward in the right direction."
As part of the reclassification process, Grand Canyon's submission of its Strategic Plan, Annual Report and Peer Review Visit as part of the Institutional Performance Program (IPP) Self-Study, was accepted by the Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee.
Grand Canyon athletics began the reclassification process in the 2013-14 academic year, which coincided with their first season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Lopes will not be eligible for NCAA postseason competition until the 2017-18 season.
In the three years of WAC play, Grand Canyon has already made strides towards contending in many of its 21 sports offered. In 2016, the men's and women's track and field teams each captured both the indoor and outdoor WAC championships. The men's tennis team added a regular season WAC title, despite being ineligible for the conference postseason tournament. The men's basketball team finish second in the regular season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Academically, the Lopes had 169 student-athletes receive Academic All-WAC honors, meeting the requirements of having at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and participating in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.
GCU also has collected numerous nationally recognized academic accolades this year. Men's basketball standout Joshua Braun and beach volleyball's Mackenzie Phelps were both named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-America team. Swimming and Diving also had seven student-athletes named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Honorable Mention team, while Kylie Fong and Deanna Salvatori of the GCU women's golf team, were named All-American Scholars by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA).
The 2016-17 home season kicks off for the Lopes on August 26 as the men's soccer team hosts Central Florida in the inaugural game at the GCU Soccer Stadium.
Men's
Basketball
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Division I Transition Mark Oshidari
GCU advances to fourth year of reclassification process
PHOENIX – Grand Canyon University has officially advanced to the fourth and final year of the reclassification process, as announced by the NCAA Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee.
"We are very pleased that the NCAA has decided to advance us to Year Four and into our final year of transition," Vice President of Athletics Mike Vaught said. "Our coaches, staff, student-athletes and so many people across campus have worked very hard throughout the transition process and this affirms that we are continuing to move forward in the right direction."
As part of the reclassification process, Grand Canyon's submission of its Strategic Plan, Annual Report and Peer Review Visit as part of the Institutional Performance Program (IPP) Self-Study, was accepted by the Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee.
Grand Canyon athletics began the reclassification process in the 2013-14 academic year, which coincided with their first season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Lopes will not be eligible for NCAA postseason competition until the 2017-18 season.
In the three years of WAC play, Grand Canyon has already made strides towards contending in many of its 21 sports offered. In 2016, the men's and women's track and field teams each captured both the indoor and outdoor WAC championships. The men's tennis team added a regular season WAC title, despite being ineligible for the conference postseason tournament. The men's basketball team finish second in the regular season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Academically, the Lopes had 169 student-athletes receive Academic All-WAC honors, meeting the requirements of having at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and participating in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.
GCU also has collected numerous nationally recognized academic accolades this year. Men's basketball standout Joshua Braun and beach volleyball's Mackenzie Phelps were both named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-America team. Swimming and Diving also had seven student-athletes named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Honorable Mention team, while Kylie Fong and Deanna Salvatori of the GCU women's golf team, were named All-American Scholars by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA).
The 2016-17 home season kicks off for the Lopes on August 26 as the men's soccer team hosts Central Florida in the inaugural game at the GCU Soccer Stadium.
Men's
Basketball
Coach Majerle releases 2016-17 Men's basketball schedule
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Men's Basketball | 6/27/2016 5:13:00 PM | Charles Hampton
Majerle releases 2016-17 schedule
PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's basketball team, coming off its best season in NCAA Division I play with a 27-7 record, released its 2016-17 regular season schedule on Thursday. The 2016-17 schedule features four games against storied collegiate basketball programs with a combined 123 NCAA tournament appearances between them with road games at Duke and Arizona, while playing host to Louisville and San Diego State.
Dan Majerle enters his fourth season as GCU head coach with a season-opening matchup with the Duke Blue Devils on Friday, Nov. 11 at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2016 Tip-Off Tournament. Four days later, the Lopes will head to Happy Valley, Pa. to visit Penn State on Nov. 15. The Tip-off Tournament will wrap up with neutral site matchups with Albany and Marist on Nov. 19 and 20 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
"I think it's going to be a very challenging schedule, and it starts right at the beginning," Majerle said. "The entire schedule is challenging, but to be able to start at Duke—probably one of the hardest places to play, if not the hardest place to play in the country—will be a great experience for our kids. And then to go and play at Penn State which is a Big 10 school and then against Albany and Marist at Mohegan Sun Arena are all extremely hard games to start off the year."
After two weeks on the road to begin the season, GCU will host Coppin State in its home-opener on Nov. 25 at GCU Arena, where the Lopes own a 69-16 (.812) all-time record at home following an 18-2 record in home contests a year ago. The Lopes will close out the month of November hosting SIU-Edwardsville on Nov. 28.
The competition picks up again as the Lopes will host Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 3. Coach Rick Pitino's Cardinals will be traveling to Grand Canyon for their only non-conference road game this season. Four days later, the Lopes will match up with San Diego State at GCU Arena. The Lopes earned a trademark victory for their program with a 52-45 win over the Aztecs at Viejas Arena last December. Following a Dec. 10 matchup with the University of Illinois-Chicago at GCU Arena, the Lopes will travel down to Tucson to face Arizona at the McKale Center on Wednesday, Dec. 14. It will be the fifth time these two schools have met and the first matchup since Dec. 30, 1980.
"To be able to come home and have two programs like Louisville and San Diego State playing on our campus, it's a great challenge, but a good place for our program," Majerle said. "That doesn't happen very often, so I'm very excited about that. Then to go down to Arizona, that is really another hard place to play. So in those games, we're probably going to be playing maybe four top 25, top 15 teams, in all the country. So it's going to be a great way to start."
The Lopes will host four home games over Christmas break, welcoming Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 17, Alcorn State on Dec. 20, Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Dec. 22 and Cal Poly on Dec. 28. GCU will then hit the road for an afternoon contest at UC-Riverside on New Year's Eve.
The new year brings the start of conference play as the Lopes will host Utah Valley on Saturday, Jan. 7 in their WAC opener. The following weekend, GCU hits the road for games at New Mexico State on Jan. 12 and UTRGV on Jan. 14. Following a Tuesday night game with San Diego Christian, an NAIA opponent, the Lopes returns to GCU Arena to face a Seattle team that gave GCU its only conference loss at home in the 2015-16 season. The month of January concludes with road contests at UMKC on Jan. 26 and Chicago State on Jan. 28, before playing Bethesda, another NAIA program, at home on Jan. 31.
The final month of the regular season begins with the Lopes hosting 2016 WAC Tournament Champions, Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 4. GCU then welcomes UTRGV and New Mexico State to Phoenix on Feb. 9 and 11, respectively. The Lopes defeated the Aggies for the first time in program history on Jan. 9, 2016 in front of an all-time GCU Arena record of 7,413 fans. Following a two-game road trip at Seattle on Feb. 16 and Utah Valley Feb. 18, GCU will have close out their regular season home slate with games vs. Chicago State on Feb 23 and UMKC on Feb. 25. For the second consecutive season, the Lopes will close out their regular season on the road as they head to Bakersfield, Calif. to take on the Roadrunners on Saturday, March 4.
"Our league continues to get better," Majerle added. "It's going to be a challenging year for us, especially coming off 27 wins, but I'm excited to see how we fare and it's great to have this kind of schedule with this being our last year of our transition period. Hopefully it will have us ready for the NCAA Tournament in 2018."
GCU will play a total of 31 games, including 18 at GCU Arena, where Majerle expects to continue to have a true home-court advantage.
"It's always a huge deal for us to be able to play that many home games in front of what I think is one of the best college atmospheres in all of the country. A big reason why we had so much success last year is we won 18 games at home and that's huge. The Havocs are a big part of our success, so we're looking forward to playing in front of them this fall."
Swimming and DivingCoach Schaffer joins Zambian coaching staff, lands dream
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Men's Swimming and Diving Lisa Amsler
Schaffer joins Zambian coaching staff, lands Olympic dream
PLAYERS MENTIONED
PHOENIX – Grand Canyon University's swimming and diving head coach, Steve Schaffer, has always wanted to be part of the Olympics. This year, he's finally getting the opportunity – as a coach. Schaffer will join the Zambian coaching staff at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, assisting GCU swimmer Jade Howard.
After retiring from club coaching, Schaffer received a call from GCU to lead the swimming and diving program, restoring his dream of coaching at the Olympics.
"The first Olympic opening ceremony I ever watched was the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and I remember looking at it thinking 'I want to be there someday. I want to do that,'" Schaffer said. "That was my goal during my time as an athlete and then later on when I got into coaching. I managed to get kids through Olympic trials but not far enough to get on the US team. Once I got the job [at GCU], it opened up a whole new door of possibilities because I could recruit internationally."
Since coming on board eight years ago, Schaffer has focused on taking baby steps to consistently recruit top-talent in order to improve the program as a whole. His unwavering dedication has not gone unnoticed.
In addition to garnering notable titles such as 2011 NCAA Division II Men's Swimming Coach of the Year and setting the Lopes up for their brightest season yet after both men and women finished 3rd in the WAC Championships, Schaffer has applied his coaching expertise to the 2012 Short Course World Championships, 2013 World University Games, 2013 World Championships for Finland and the 2015 World Championships for Zambia.
As Howard's personal coach at the World Championships for Zambia last year, Schaffer is looking forward to accompanying her on the world's biggest stage: the Olympics.
"Jade is swimming really well and taking this very seriously," Schaffer added. "I know she'll accomplish a nice drop in her times. Just to be able to get on that type of stage and step up and improve your times under that kind of pressure is a huge deal, so that's what we're looking for."
Schaffer knows that just getting his swimmers to the Olympics is something to be proud of, but that doesn't mean he's setting the bar low. Already looking towards the future, he has his sights set on the 2017 World Championships in Hungary as well as the 2020 Olympic Games.
"There's a lot to look forward to," Schaffer continued. "Our ability to recruit better talent steps up each time we're able to make a splash and get kids swimming at the international level. I am grateful to Zambia for allowing me to be part of their staff and grateful to the leadership of Grand Canyon for not only providing me the opportunity to coach here, but for providing the resources necessary to recruit Olympic level athletes. I could not have accomplished this without them."
Men's
VolleyballMen's volleyball to join MPSF in 2017-2018 academic year
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Men's Volleyball | 6/30/2016 9:32:00 AM | Samantha Fell
Men's volleyball to join MPSF in 2018
PHOENIX – The GCU men's volleyball program will be joining the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year. Concordia University Irvine will also transition to the MPSF to complete an eight-team conference including Brigham Young, California Baptist, Pepperdine, Stanford, UCLA and USC.
"Joining the MPSF for men's volleyball connects us to schools committed to academic and athletic excellence in our region of the country," GCU Vice President of Athletics Mike Vaught stated. "Competing against top-ranked programs in this conference will only enhance the experience of our program as it continues to rise and will be a great test for our student-athletes."
The MPSF schedule will feature a home and away, double-round robin format for a total of 14 conference matches. The MPSF Championship Tournament will maintain its current format of an eight-team quarterfinal, hosted by the top-four seeds, followed by the semifinal and championship matches hosted by the best remaining seed to advance from the quarterfinals. The MPSF will be one of five NCAA Division I and II conferences in 2018, whose champions will earn automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
"We are extremely excited to make the transition into the MPSF for the 2018 season," GCU head coach Matt Werle added. "This will allow for an exciting amount of conference matches with some of the best competition in the country. We look forward to the new challenges ahead."
Grand Canyon currently competes in the Midwest intercollegiate Volleyball Association and will play its final season in the league in 2017 before making the transition to the MPSF. The Lopes finished the 2016 season with their best record in the eight-year history of the program at 17-12. GCU will complete the four-year transition to Division I athletics next season and will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament beginning in 2018.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8)
Disclosure For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at gcu.edu/disclosures. Please note, not all GCU programs are available in all states and in all learning modalities. Program availability is contingent on student enrollment.
Grand Canyon University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. (800-621-7440; http://hlcommission.org/).
Grand Canyon University
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Men's Basketball | 6/27/2016 5:13:00 PM | Charles Hampton
Majerle releases 2016-17 schedule
PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's basketball team, coming off its best season in NCAA Division I play with a 27-7 record, released its 2016-17 regular season schedule on Thursday. The 2016-17 schedule features four games against storied collegiate basketball programs with a combined 123 NCAA tournament appearances between them with road games at Duke and Arizona, while playing host to Louisville and San Diego State.
Dan Majerle enters his fourth season as GCU head coach with a season-opening matchup with the Duke Blue Devils on Friday, Nov. 11 at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2016 Tip-Off Tournament. Four days later, the Lopes will head to Happy Valley, Pa. to visit Penn State on Nov. 15. The Tip-off Tournament will wrap up with neutral site matchups with Albany and Marist on Nov. 19 and 20 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
"I think it's going to be a very challenging schedule, and it starts right at the beginning," Majerle said. "The entire schedule is challenging, but to be able to start at Duke—probably one of the hardest places to play, if not the hardest place to play in the country—will be a great experience for our kids. And then to go and play at Penn State which is a Big 10 school and then against Albany and Marist at Mohegan Sun Arena are all extremely hard games to start off the year."
After two weeks on the road to begin the season, GCU will host Coppin State in its home-opener on Nov. 25 at GCU Arena, where the Lopes own a 69-16 (.812) all-time record at home following an 18-2 record in home contests a year ago. The Lopes will close out the month of November hosting SIU-Edwardsville on Nov. 28.
The competition picks up again as the Lopes will host Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 3. Coach Rick Pitino's Cardinals will be traveling to Grand Canyon for their only non-conference road game this season. Four days later, the Lopes will match up with San Diego State at GCU Arena. The Lopes earned a trademark victory for their program with a 52-45 win over the Aztecs at Viejas Arena last December. Following a Dec. 10 matchup with the University of Illinois-Chicago at GCU Arena, the Lopes will travel down to Tucson to face Arizona at the McKale Center on Wednesday, Dec. 14. It will be the fifth time these two schools have met and the first matchup since Dec. 30, 1980.
"To be able to come home and have two programs like Louisville and San Diego State playing on our campus, it's a great challenge, but a good place for our program," Majerle said. "That doesn't happen very often, so I'm very excited about that. Then to go down to Arizona, that is really another hard place to play. So in those games, we're probably going to be playing maybe four top 25, top 15 teams, in all the country. So it's going to be a great way to start."
The Lopes will host four home games over Christmas break, welcoming Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 17, Alcorn State on Dec. 20, Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Dec. 22 and Cal Poly on Dec. 28. GCU will then hit the road for an afternoon contest at UC-Riverside on New Year's Eve.
The new year brings the start of conference play as the Lopes will host Utah Valley on Saturday, Jan. 7 in their WAC opener. The following weekend, GCU hits the road for games at New Mexico State on Jan. 12 and UTRGV on Jan. 14. Following a Tuesday night game with San Diego Christian, an NAIA opponent, the Lopes returns to GCU Arena to face a Seattle team that gave GCU its only conference loss at home in the 2015-16 season. The month of January concludes with road contests at UMKC on Jan. 26 and Chicago State on Jan. 28, before playing Bethesda, another NAIA program, at home on Jan. 31.
The final month of the regular season begins with the Lopes hosting 2016 WAC Tournament Champions, Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 4. GCU then welcomes UTRGV and New Mexico State to Phoenix on Feb. 9 and 11, respectively. The Lopes defeated the Aggies for the first time in program history on Jan. 9, 2016 in front of an all-time GCU Arena record of 7,413 fans. Following a two-game road trip at Seattle on Feb. 16 and Utah Valley Feb. 18, GCU will have close out their regular season home slate with games vs. Chicago State on Feb 23 and UMKC on Feb. 25. For the second consecutive season, the Lopes will close out their regular season on the road as they head to Bakersfield, Calif. to take on the Roadrunners on Saturday, March 4.
"Our league continues to get better," Majerle added. "It's going to be a challenging year for us, especially coming off 27 wins, but I'm excited to see how we fare and it's great to have this kind of schedule with this being our last year of our transition period. Hopefully it will have us ready for the NCAA Tournament in 2018."
GCU will play a total of 31 games, including 18 at GCU Arena, where Majerle expects to continue to have a true home-court advantage.
"It's always a huge deal for us to be able to play that many home games in front of what I think is one of the best college atmospheres in all of the country. A big reason why we had so much success last year is we won 18 games at home and that's huge. The Havocs are a big part of our success, so we're looking forward to playing in front of them this fall."
GCU MEN'S BASKETBALL 2016-17 SCHEDULE
| Day | Date | Opponent | Venue | Time |
| Thursday | Nov. 3 | Adams State (Exhib.) | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Friday | Nov. 11 | at Duke | Durham, N.C. | 5:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Nov. 15 | at Penn State | Happy Valley, Pa. | 5:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Nov. 19 | vs Albany | Mohegan Sun Arena | TBA |
| Sunday | Nov. 20 | vs Marist | Mohegan Sun Arena | TBA |
| Friday | Nov. 25 | Coppin State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Monday | Nov. 28 | SIU-Edwardsville | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Dec. 3 | Louisville | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Dec. 7 | San Diego State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Dec. 10 | Illinois-Chicago | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Dec. 14 | at Arizona | Tucson, AZ | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Dec. 17 | Mississippi Valley State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Dec. 20 | Alcorn State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Dec. 22 | Arkansas Pine-Bluff | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Dec. 28 | Cal Poly | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Dec. 31 | at UC Riverside | Riverside, Calif. | 2:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Jan. 7 | Utah Valley | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Jan. 12 | at New Mexico State | Las Cruces, N.M. | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Jan. 14 | At UTRGV | Edinburg, Texas | 6:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Jan. 17 | San Diego Christian College | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Jan. 21 | Seattle | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Jan. 26 | at UMKC | Kansas City, Mo. | 6:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Jan. 28 | at Chicago State | Chicago, Ill. | 6:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Jan. 31 | Bethesda | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Feb. 4 | Cal State Bakersfield | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Feb. 9 | UTRGV | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Feb. 11 | New Mexico State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Feb. 16 | at Seattle | Seattle, Wash. | 8:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Feb. 18 | at Utah Valley | Orem, Utah | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | Feb. 23 | Chicago State | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Feb. 25 | UMKC | GCU Arena | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Mar. 4 | at Cal State Bakersfield | Bakersfield, Calif. | 8:00 p.m. |
All tipoff times are local Arizona time; Home Games in BOLD
Swimming and DivingCoach Schaffer joins Zambian coaching staff, lands dream
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Men's Swimming and Diving Lisa Amsler
Schaffer joins Zambian coaching staff, lands Olympic dream
PLAYERS MENTIONED
After retiring from club coaching, Schaffer received a call from GCU to lead the swimming and diving program, restoring his dream of coaching at the Olympics.
"The first Olympic opening ceremony I ever watched was the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and I remember looking at it thinking 'I want to be there someday. I want to do that,'" Schaffer said. "That was my goal during my time as an athlete and then later on when I got into coaching. I managed to get kids through Olympic trials but not far enough to get on the US team. Once I got the job [at GCU], it opened up a whole new door of possibilities because I could recruit internationally."
Since coming on board eight years ago, Schaffer has focused on taking baby steps to consistently recruit top-talent in order to improve the program as a whole. His unwavering dedication has not gone unnoticed.
In addition to garnering notable titles such as 2011 NCAA Division II Men's Swimming Coach of the Year and setting the Lopes up for their brightest season yet after both men and women finished 3rd in the WAC Championships, Schaffer has applied his coaching expertise to the 2012 Short Course World Championships, 2013 World University Games, 2013 World Championships for Finland and the 2015 World Championships for Zambia.
As Howard's personal coach at the World Championships for Zambia last year, Schaffer is looking forward to accompanying her on the world's biggest stage: the Olympics.
"Jade is swimming really well and taking this very seriously," Schaffer added. "I know she'll accomplish a nice drop in her times. Just to be able to get on that type of stage and step up and improve your times under that kind of pressure is a huge deal, so that's what we're looking for."
Schaffer knows that just getting his swimmers to the Olympics is something to be proud of, but that doesn't mean he's setting the bar low. Already looking towards the future, he has his sights set on the 2017 World Championships in Hungary as well as the 2020 Olympic Games.
"There's a lot to look forward to," Schaffer continued. "Our ability to recruit better talent steps up each time we're able to make a splash and get kids swimming at the international level. I am grateful to Zambia for allowing me to be part of their staff and grateful to the leadership of Grand Canyon for not only providing me the opportunity to coach here, but for providing the resources necessary to recruit Olympic level athletes. I could not have accomplished this without them."
Men's
VolleyballMen's volleyball to join MPSF in 2017-2018 academic year
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Men's Volleyball | 6/30/2016 9:32:00 AM | Samantha Fell
Men's volleyball to join MPSF in 2018
PHOENIX – The GCU men's volleyball program will be joining the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year. Concordia University Irvine will also transition to the MPSF to complete an eight-team conference including Brigham Young, California Baptist, Pepperdine, Stanford, UCLA and USC.
"Joining the MPSF for men's volleyball connects us to schools committed to academic and athletic excellence in our region of the country," GCU Vice President of Athletics Mike Vaught stated. "Competing against top-ranked programs in this conference will only enhance the experience of our program as it continues to rise and will be a great test for our student-athletes."
The MPSF schedule will feature a home and away, double-round robin format for a total of 14 conference matches. The MPSF Championship Tournament will maintain its current format of an eight-team quarterfinal, hosted by the top-four seeds, followed by the semifinal and championship matches hosted by the best remaining seed to advance from the quarterfinals. The MPSF will be one of five NCAA Division I and II conferences in 2018, whose champions will earn automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
"We are extremely excited to make the transition into the MPSF for the 2018 season," GCU head coach Matt Werle added. "This will allow for an exciting amount of conference matches with some of the best competition in the country. We look forward to the new challenges ahead."
Grand Canyon currently competes in the Midwest intercollegiate Volleyball Association and will play its final season in the league in 2017 before making the transition to the MPSF. The Lopes finished the 2016 season with their best record in the eight-year history of the program at 17-12. GCU will complete the four-year transition to Division I athletics next season and will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament beginning in 2018.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8)
Disclosure For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at gcu.edu/disclosures. Please note, not all GCU programs are available in all states and in all learning modalities. Program availability is contingent on student enrollment.
Grand Canyon University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. (800-621-7440; http://hlcommission.org/).
Grand Canyon University
3300 West Camelback Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85017, United States.
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