LAS VEGAS \u2013 Tyon Grant-Foster can\u2019t say for certain if he\u2019s any closer to signing a financial aid agreement with Gonzaga and joining Mark Few\u2019s roster in a formal capacity, but the Grand Canyon transfer is working persistently behind the scenes to ensure he\u2019s in prime shape if and when the NCAA approves his eligibility waiver.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster traveled to Las Vegas to catch games at NBA Summer League with longtime friend Christian Braun, a third-year Denver Nuggets player who teamed up with Grant-Foster on Kansas\u2019 roster in 2020-21.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s Saturday culminated at Cox Pavilion, where Denver played Minnesota in a Summer League nightcap, but the morning agenda included a workout at nearby Liberty High, where former Gonzaga standout and second-year Nuggets wing Julian Strawther still holds multiple school scoring records. Strawther hosted Braun and Grant-Foster for a training session at his old high school a few miles from the Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s been on the move since Grand Canyon\u2019s season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the one constant in his life \u2013 one that\u2019s still hinging on a major decision from college basketball\u2019s governing body \u2013 has been finding the nearest gym and honing his skills in anticipation of one final collegiate season.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s stationed in Vegas now, but he\u2019s also gone through offseason workouts in his hometown of Kansas City and still spends time in Phoenix, where the 25-year-old occasionally finds himself in the same 5-on-5 runs as former GU guard Dusty Stromer, who transferred to Grand Canyon in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I\u2019ve been here, I\u2019ve been working out,\u201d Grant-Foster said on Saturday after the Nuggets\u2019 Summer League game ended. \u201cThen I\u2019ll work out at home. Wherever I go, I work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still no clarity on when Grant-Foster might get to work out with his new teammates in Spokane. That\u2019s contingent upon the NCAA approving an eligibility waiver for the former WAC Player of the Year, whose seven-year journey as a college basketball player starter back in 2018-19 at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still waiting on it right now,\u201d Grant-Foster said. \u201cJust a waiting process. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few, who attended Sunday\u2019s Summer League game between Anton Watson\u2019s New York Knicks and Ben Gregg\u2019s Boston Celtics, provided a similar update when asked about Grant-Foster\u2019s status.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still just waiting on the waiver,\u201d Few said. \u201cIt\u2019s still through the NCAA process, so we\u2019re still just kind of waiting around for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s commitment to Gonzaga comes on the heels of consecutive seasons at Grand Canyon, where the wing played in 60 games from 2023-25. He previously spent time at DePaul, but appeared in only one game with the Blue Demons in 2021-22 after collapsing during halftime of the team\u2019s season opener against Coppin State. Grant-Foster collapsed again in a pickup game months later, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2022-23 season. Prior to his time at DePaul, Grant-Foster played 22 games at Kansas during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.<\/p>\n
The NCAA is probably considering a number of factors when reviewing Grant-Foster\u2019s unique case. Seldom do waiver situations involve a player who underwent multiple life-threatening heart injuries, or someone who\u2019ll be 26 years old by the time March Madness rolls around.<\/p>\n
The wing could benefit from a blanket waiver issued by the NCAA in December, temporarily extending the playing clock for athletes who spent at least one season in junior college.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s waiver saga could seem discouraging on the surface \u2013 the transfer has already missed out on key practices and team-bonding opportunities in Spokane \u2013 but he\u2019s kept a positive perspective, suggesting any frustration he\u2019s had the last few months can\u2019t compare to the other hardships he\u2019s experienced as a college basketball player.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, not really,\u201d Grant-Foster said. \u201cJust a waiting process, you\u2019ve got to be patient. I\u2019ve been through a lot in my life, it ain\u2019t nothing just to wait a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster, who averaged 20.1 points and 6.1 rebounds two seasons ago at GCU, expectedly had a number of options after entering the portal. Along with Gonzaga, his finalists included Washington and Arizona State, according to reports.<\/p>\n
Gonzaga\u2019s sales pitch included one thing the others didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like coach Few, he\u2019s a high-level coach,\u201d Grant-Foster said. \u201cI feel like he\u2019ll help me take my game to the next level. He wins, one of the most winning coaches. Maybe the most winning coach ever in NCAA. So I just felt like, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s had success at the mid-major level, winning consecutive WAC championships and earning two trips to the NCAA Tournament, scoring 51 total points over two March Madness games against Saint Mary\u2019s and Alabama in 2024.<\/p>\n
Winning at a higher level and making a deeper tournament run are\u00a0some of the things driving Grant-Foster in his final college season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re getting a player that wants to win,\u201d he said. \u201cCome in, get better. I just feel like we\u2019ve got all the pieces to make a national (championship). I would say it\u2019s probably the most focused I\u2019ll ever be going into the next season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster hasn\u2019t had the chance to get to know many of his Gonzaga teammates on a personal level, but he\u2019s been in communication with a few since committing in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to Graham (Ike) and Braden (Huff) and stuff like that,\u201d Grant-Foster said. \u201cThey\u2019re excited for me to get up here and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naturally, Grant-Foster\u2019s commitment to Gonzaga came up during Saturday\u2019s workout with Strawther, who played three seasons in Spokane and hit one of the biggest shots in program history \u2013 a game-winning 3-pointer against UCLA in the 2023 Sweet 16 \u2013 before being selected by Denver with the No. 29 overall pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just told me basically what everybody else told me,\u201d Grant-Foster said. \u201cCoach Few\u2019s going to be on me, but he\u2019s going to allow you to play basketball. He\u2019s going to teach you and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster\u2019s benefitted from offseason workouts with Braun, who grew up approximately 90 minutes away in Burlington, Kansas. Braun won a national championship with the Jayhawks one season after Grant-Foster transferred from KU, and carved out a starting role with the Nuggets last season.<\/p>\n
The two grew close during Grant-Foster\u2019s freshman year of high school and still reconnect in the offseason. Braun was playing in the same pickup game in Kansas City when Grant-Foster collapsed on the court for the second time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout even basketball, me and CB, we\u2019ve been friends for way before I went to KU with him,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, one of my best friends, he\u2019s a great guy. He tells me, he watches my games, tells me what he thinks I should do and we just bounce ideas off each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-7 wing emerged as one of the nation\u2019s top scorers in 2023-24, but saw his scoring and efficiency numbers dip last season, averaging 14.8 points on 39% shooting. Grant-Foster still earned All-WAC First Team honors, in part due to production on the defensive end, where he averaged 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks for the second straight year.<\/p>\n
Grant-Foster hasn\u2019t zeroed in on a single area where he hopes to improve this offseason, but is focused on getting marginally better in a number of categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get better, so everything,\u201d he said. \u201cShooting, dribbling, defense. So everything. It\u2019s not something specific that I work on, it\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 Tyon Grant-Foster can\u2019t say for certain if he\u2019s any closer to signing a financial aid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[402,398,400,401,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-8163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}