Grand Canyon sophomore, former Gonzaga Prep standout Liam Lloyd enters transfer portal

Liam Lloyd, a former Gonzaga Prep standout and the son of longtime Gonzaga assistant and first-year Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, may be playing somewhere other than Grand Canyon University next season.

The sophomore guard announced Tuesday afternoon on Twitter he’s entered the transfer portal after spending two seasons with the Antelopes under coach Bryce Drew – one of which saw Lloyd go to the NCAA Tournament with GCU.

“I’d like to thank Grand Canyon for having me the past 2 years,” Lloyd wrote in a Twitter post. “Thank you to all my coaches, teammates and friends for a great experience that I will never forget. With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal to seek out opportunities elsewhere, thank you lope nation for everything!”

During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Lloyd played sparingly off the bench for the Antelopes of the Western Athletic Conference, making 30 total appearances for GCU while averaging 2.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 2020-21 and 0.7 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists this season.

Lloyd played a career-high 30 minutes in Grand Canyon’s Feb. 26, 2021, game against Seattle U and had a 15-point, 10-rebound effort on Jan. 16, 2021, against Bethesda. After Grand Canyon’s 49-48 win over San Francisco at the Footprint Center in December – a game that took place hours after Gonzaga’s win over Texas Tech at the same venue – Drew told The Spokesman-Review of Lloyd, “(he) has a great basketball mind, he never has a bad practice. He’s improving as a player and his attitude is just spectacular.”

Drew also pointed out the 6-foot-5, 200-pound reserve guard played important defensive minutes during a key five-minute stretch in GCU’s 78-72 win over Loyola Marymount earlier this season.

“It varies game to game,” Drew said of Lloyd’s role with the Antelopes. “Like Loyola Marymount, he came in and helped turn the game for us to help us win that game. He played great in a five-minute stretch especially defensively. We can always count that Liam’s going to be tough and he’s going to execute and he’s always going to be ready. So those things we really value in him.”

At Gonzaga Prep, Lloyd accumulated more than 1,000 career points while helping the Bullpups to a pair of state championships and a 69-10 overall record in three seasons. Lloyd opened his senior season at G-Prep with a 46-point effort and averaged 23 points, six assists and six rebounds throughout the year.