Grand Canyon, Seattle U to join WCC

From news services

The Havocs will be returning to Spokane in the near future.

Grand Canyon University in Phoenix has accepted an invitation to join the West Coast Conference effective July 1, 2025, the WCC Presidents’ Council announced Friday.

Seattle U, in the conference when it was called the West Coast Athletic Conference, will also join the WCC, the conference said. 

Grand Canyon and Seattle will compete in the Western Athletic Conference for one more year before transitioning to the WCC.

The Havocs, as the rabid fan base at Grand Canyon is known, made its initial appearance in Spokane in March for the NCAA tournament, where perhaps a thousand students and fans made the trek north to root the Lopes’ men’s basketball team on to an upset of Saint Mary’s in a first-round game at the Spokane Arena.

The addition of Grand Canyon and Seattle U will give the WCC 11 full-time members.

Washington State and Oregon State will be affiliate members of the WCC in 12 sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, for the next two years.

Grand Canyon and Seattle will compete in 14 of the WCC’s 16 sponsored sports beginning with the 2025-26 seasons. Both institutions sponsor men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s cross country and women’s cross country; while Grand Canyon will compete in the WCC in beach volleyball and Seattle will compete in the conference in rowing.

The additions of Grand Canyon and Seattle expand the WCC to 11 full-time members, marking the greatest number of full-time member institutions in the 71-year history of the conference. With Grand Canyon joining the WCC, the conference footprint will expand to the state of Arizona for the first time in its history. The WCC footprint, which already includes the No. 2 (Los Angeles) and No. 10 (San Francisco Bay Area) media markets in the nation, will now also include the No. 11 and No. 13 media markets in Phoenix and Seattle, respectively.

First established in 1949, Grand Canyon University has grown exponentially within the Phoenix market and is a well-recognized institution on a national level. A member of the Western Athletic Conference the past 11 years, GCU has captured 66 conference championships and won the WAC Commissioner’s Cup each of the last five fully completed academic years. The men’s basketball program has earned an NCAA Tournament berth each of the last two years and finished the 2023-24 season with 30 wins and a top-50 NET ranking.

The Lopes have reached the NCAA men’s basketball tournament three times in the past four years, including 2023 when GCU lost to Gonzaga in the first round.

After beating Saint Mary’s in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena, Grand Canyon fell to Alabama, which eventually reached the Final Four, in the second round.

Of GCU’s 21 sports, 14 will make their new home in the WCC. The conference does not sponsor men’s volleyball, swimming and diving or track and field. Men’s volleyball will continue to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, where the Lopes recently captured a conference tournament title and reached the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. GCU’s process of evaluating conference options for swimming and diving and track and field is well underway.

“We have been blessed in the past 16 years to become one of the fastest-growing institutions in the country with a true national footprint that is drawing students from all 50 states,” said GCU President Brian Mueller. “This is due to our high-quality academic programs and innovative delivery platforms. Athletically, our teams have also emerged, going from a Division II power to a championship caliber high mid-major program in Division I in a very short time.”

Seattle was previously a member of the conference under its former name, the West Coast Athletic Conference, from 1971-80. Since its return to NCAA Division I in 2008, Seattle has earned 65 conference championships. 

The Redhawks have been a member of the Western Athletic Conference since 2012, where they most recently won titles in men’s soccer and women’s golf. The men’s soccer program was ranked No. 9 nationally during the 2023 season. Men’s basketball has achieved three

consecutive 20-win seasons from 2022-24, including 23 wins and the College Basketball Invitational championship this past season.

“We are especially well-aligned with the WCC and its member schools from an academic, athletics and geographic standpoint,” Seattle U President Eduardo M. Peñalver said.

Air Force, California Baptist and San Jose State compete as affiliate members of the WCC in men’s water polo, while Creighton competes as an affiliate member in rowing.

The additions of GCU and Seattle, along with the affiliate membership of Oregon State, Washington State, Air Force, California Baptist San Jose State and Creighton in select sports, gives the conference 13 teams in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, volleyball and women’s cross country; 12 teams in men’s golf; 11 teams in men’s soccer and women’s tennis; 10 teams in men’s tennis; nine teams in rowing and men’s cross country; and eight teams in beach volleyball, softball and women’s golf during the 2025-26 academic year.