Former Grand Canyon basketball star Tyon Grant-Foster announces move to national power

• Tyon Grant-Foster, a 6-foot-7 wing, is transferring to Gonzaga from Grand Canyon University and seeking an NCAA waiver to play.
• The 25-year-old Grant-Foster was the WAC Player of the Year in 2023-24, leading GCU to their first NCAA Tournament win.

Tyon Grant-Foster apparently is counting on one more Senior Night in his college basketball career.

He went through the past two at Grand Canyon.

But the 6-foot-7 wing announced on social media on Wednesday, May 28, that he is signing with Gonzaga out of the transfer portal.

Grant-Foster, 25, who started his college career in 2018, will need a waiver from the NCAA to play for the national power.

The WAC Player of the Year in 2023-24, his first season in two years playing college basketball, led the Lopes to their first NCAA Tournament win, averaging 20 points a game.

Grant-Foster started his career at a junior college, playing two years at Indian Hills in Iowa.

After playing the 2020-21 season at Kansas, he transferred to DePaul, where his career was derailed after playing the first half of the season opener.

Grant-Foster collapsed in the locker room at halftime and had to have his heart shocked back into rhythm twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

He underwent two heart surgeries, and, after finally becoming medically cleared, Grant-Foster accepted a scholarship offer from GCU.

He had a Senior Night at GCU that season, believing his next move would be the NBA.

But after going through workouts in front of NBA personnel, he returned to GCU for another season. He had to sit out the first two games before becoming eligible.

Last season ended with a blowout loss to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle. An injury during the second half of the WAC season ended any chance of repeating as conference Player of the Year.

Grant-Foster returned for the WAC tournament, helping the Lopes capture their fourth championship in five years. He averaged 14.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season.

To gain one more year of college eligibility, Grant-Foster could apply the Diego Pavia case. The Vanderbilt quarterback last November sued the NCAA, arguing his two junior-college seasons shouldn’t count against his Division I eligibility.

A judge found that the NCAA violated antitrust law by counting junior college playing time toward D-I eligibility, which impacted his NIL potential.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert