Grand Canyon has four players named to the 2026-27 Preseason All-Mountain West men's basketball team.
Lopes guard Dylan Darling, formerly with St. John's, was named the conference Newcomer of the Year.
The preseason team was selected by the media.
In addition to Darling, Grand Canyon players on the Preseason All-Mountain West team are sophomore center Efe Demirel, senior guard Jaden Henley and senior guard Makaih Williams.
GCU was picked to finish second in the conference, behind New Mexico, which is led by sophomore guard Jake Hall, who was named All-Conference and also Preseason Player of the Year.
Henley, who made first-team all-conference for the Lopes last year, is battling through the court system for his eligibility as a fifth-year senior.
He is among a large group of athletes across the nation from the 2022 high school class seeking a fifth season of eligibility. With athletes automatically getting five years moving forward, that class believes it should get that, as well.
Henley signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Detroit Pistons and played in the NBA summer league, before opting to return to college.
The Lopes begin the season Oct. 27 at home against Western New Mexico.
The Mountain West added Hawaii, UC Davis and UTEP to the conference this year. The remaining seven members are GCU, New Mexico, Nevada, San Jose State, UNLV, Air Force and Wyoming.
Former Prescott High School star point guard Uriah Tenette of New Mexico was named Preseason All-Mountain West.
Others making the team are Nevada forward Elijah Price, Nevada guard Vaughn Weems, UNLV forward Tyrin Jones, UNLV guard AJ Storr, and Wyoming guard Naz Meyer.
The Lopes had 10 first-place votes but fell one point shy of New Mexico overall in predicted order of finish points with 178. New Mexico picked up nine first-place votes but finished with 179 overall points in voter predicted order of finish.
After New Mexico and GCU are Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Hawaii, San Jose State, UC Davis, UTEP and Air Force.
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. 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
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 4 Grand Canyon basketball players named to Preseason All-Mountain West team
