This ascending era of Grand Canyon basketball has an NBA breakthrough with the Indiana Pacers signing former Lopes star Gabe McGlothan to a contract Tuesday.
McGlothan made significant strides during the G League season with the Pacers’ affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, earning a 10-day hardship contract. The opportunity makes him Grand Canyon’s first player on an NBA roster since Horacio Llamas suited up for the Phoenix Suns in 1997–98, and the third Lopes player overall to appear on an NBA regular-season roster, joining Bayard Forest of the Suns in the late 1970s.
The 26-year-old Gilbert, Arizona native is set to suit up for the Pacers on Thursday night when they host New York in Indianapolis.
“We’re incredibly excited for Gabe,” GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. “He’s a tremendous representative of Grand Canyon University. His work ethic, team-first mindset, and commitment to winning stand out. All of Lope Nation is behind him.”
A 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward, McGlothan showed across-the-board improvement compared to his rookie season with the Nuggets’ G League affiliate in Grand Rapids. With Noblesville this year, he raised his field-goal percentage from 42% to 58% and posted averages of 16.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.9 assists per game—up significantly from last season’s marks.
After appearing with the Dallas Mavericks in his second NBA Summer League this year, McGlothan signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Indiana Pacers and participated in training camp and the preseason. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds across three preseason games before being assigned to Noblesville for the G League season. He also spent the 2024–25 campaign with the Nuggets’ G League affiliate in Grand Rapids under an Exhibit 10 contract with Denver.
McGlothan has been highly efficient this season, posting a 65% true shooting percentage—an 11% improvement over last year. He’s scoring 9.7 of his 16.9 points per game in the paint for the Boom and has accounted for 38% of the team’s offensive rebounds.
During his four playing seasons at Grand Canyon, where he took a medical redshirt his first year, GCU compiled a 94–32 record. McGlothan played on three Lopes squads that captured WAC Tournament titles and earned NCAA Tournament berths.
He was part of the first GCU team to win an NCAA Division I Tournament game in 2024, helping the Lopes upset Saint Mary’s before pushing Alabama in the second round. McGlothan, whose brother played soccer at GCU and whose mother works at the university, holds the program’s Division I-era career rebounding record with 856 boards and ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 1,329 points.
“Basketball can take you so many places, both on and off the court,” McGlothan said in a recent Noblesville video. “It carries over into every part of life and gives you an outlet for joy and peace. I’m excited not just for my own journey, but for my teammates’ stories as well. I love supporting others as they chase their dreams.”
Under NBA rules, teams may sign a player to a 10-day hardship contract if four players have missed three straight games due to injury and are expected to be sidelined for at least two additional weeks. Indiana qualified under that provision after losing All-Star Tyrese Haliburton for the season and dealing with injuries to Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, and Ben Sheppard.
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