Denver men’s basketball has secured a transfer portal commitment from Grand Canyon University (GCU) in rising sophomore big man 7′-0″ Isaiah Carr. Carr played limited minutes in his freshman season last year for the Antelopes on GCU’s NCAA tournament team.
Carr, from Las Cruces, New Mexico was a three-star recruited pivot in high school and was ranked as the top prep player in the state of New Mexico, leading his high school team to a 31-1 record as a senior, and 104-4 overall, along with a state championship and two trips to the state finals.
After signing with the GCU ‘Lopes, he said of his game, “My game is to run the floor fast. I can block shots. I have touch around the rim. I like the post hook and the outside shots.” Carr came out of high school at 210 pounds but is said to be 240 pounds today after his freshman season at GCU. He also had a 4.0 GPA coming out of high school.
Last season, the Grand Canyon roster included five players over 6′-9″, so Carr saw scant playing time. GCU’s head coach Bryce Drew played Carr in just nine games, averaging 13 minutes in those nine games. At Denver, Carr will fill the footsteps of departed 6′-10″ center Lukas Kisunas. Kisunas protected the rim as a grad student for DU this past season, after transferring from Stanford, where he’d played four years.
Carr will develop under the watchful eye of DU coach Jeff Wulbrun who developed Kisunas at Stanford, as well as a host of other big men for the Cardinal, before taking the DU coaching job in 2021.
GCU made Carr expendable by adding more size from the transfer portal this spring, including Louisville’s Sydney Curry at 6′-8″, 270 lbs., Oregon’s 6′-9″ Lok Wur, and 6’-10″ Duke Brennan from Arizona State. The crowded GCU front court left Carr available in the portal, enabling his eventual trip to the Mile High City.
It is a relative rarity to land a 7’0″ player at the mid-major level with three years of eligibility remaining, especially one with outstanding academic credentials and three-star HS prep recruiting status. This move hopefully solidifies Denver in the middle with a rim defender and front-court scoring threat with three years of development remaining.
One scholarship position remains open for DU at this time. Expect Wulbrun and his staff to be looking for a power forward to round out the squad.
This sounds like a big potential piece of the puzzle for DU up front. If Carr can develop into a Kisunas level of production – protecting the rim, getting rebounds and adding some production on the offensive glass, it will help.
And if Carr can become another Daniel Amigo or Yemi Nicholson as a dominant big man in the conference, it will really help. As they say, you can’t teach height, and having a seven-footer who can really play is a big part of elevating the program, assuming he stays at DU.
Getting a real power forward from the portal is imperative now, because Tainamo can’t do that job on his own.
Let’s also hope that there are some three pointers falling from Bruner, Lee, Brenchly and Craig.