Grand Canyon’s Tyon Grant-Foster is looking for the final push towards the NBA Draft

With college basketball just around the corner, several returning players are looking to build on impressive careers and show that their games can translate to the NBA level.

One of the most interesting players to fit this bill is Grand Canyon’s Tyon Grant-Foster. He was consistently productive for the Lopes last year, but really made a name for himself in his conference tournament and during his two games in March Madness.

Late-season pushes can carry a lot of weight when it comes to draft projection, but Grant-Foster felt he had more to prove in his final year of eligibility. With him set to make his senior season debut today against Cal State Fullerton, we look back at his impressive junior season and the steps he could take to continue climbing the draft boards.

In his 34 games played last season, he averaged 20 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block with decent shooting percentages of 44-33-74. He could impact the game all over the floor and showed solid motor every night. His attacking play seemed too much for the majority of his opponents and shone brightly against elite competition. In his four appearances against ranked or power-five opponents, Grant-Foster averaged 21 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block en route to a two-and-two record. His ability to handle the competition was extremely impressive and should bode well for NBA teams.

He is at his best when he plays with the ball in his hands, but mainly scores for himself. This is useful because he is very cunning and can create an open mind for himself on all three levels. To continue running the show at a higher level, he will need to increase his assist numbers more consistently. He finished the season with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio and scored five or more assists only three times, so it would take a big jump to keep this style of play alive. On the other hand, he is extremely effective as a driver, so as soon as he attacks, defenders crash and create open looks along the perimeter. These could translate into a much higher number of assists if he is able to capitalize on them, but only time will tell.

He is much more translatable defensively, as he plays very aggressively and uses his positional size and length to disrupt smaller perimeter players. He is 1.80 meters tall and has a wingspan of over two meters. He does a great job of anticipating his opponents and uses his quick athleticism to smother ballhandlers, jump passing lanes and challenge shots at the rim. His effectiveness in this area saw him create plenty of fast-break opportunities last season, and there’s no reason to think that will diminish this year.

As an older player, it will take a phenomenal year of major improvement to move too high in this draft, but Grant-Foster has a game that can make an impact at any level. He is one of the top mid-range players in the country and was selected to Jay Bilas’ preseason All-American team, which should paint a picture of how highly regarded he is. He will be very interesting to follow this season and could be in contention for a late first-round selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.

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