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Grand Canyon University Club Sports

Josh Braun Formal pic

Josh Braun

  • Title
    Women's Club Basketball Head Coach/Director of Club Basketball Operations
  • Email Address
    Josh.Braun1@gcu.edu
  • Alma Mater
    Grand Canyon University
  • Years at GCU Club Sports
    3
NIRSA Women's Championship Appearances
2024
AWBL Championship Appearances
2022
Returning to the place where he both set and broke school records during his playing career at Grand Canyon University, Josh Braun became the Lopes’ Head of Club Basketball Operations in July of 2022. Braun begins his 4th year overseeing both the men’s and women’s club basketball programs at GCU and his 3rd year as the women’s head coach. Braun was part of the success of both the Lopes’ teams who tamed the 2024 NIRSA National Basketball Tournaments, with the men winning it all and the women finishing 2nd.

Braun became the perfect undergraduate to lead the Lopes’ Men’s Basketball team into the NCAA Division I era, but the Lopes didn’t fully discover that until he’d been a student for a year. Braun stayed home to play college ball for GCU after starring at Boulder Creek High School in his hometown of Anthem, but knee injuries forced the Lopes to redshirt Braun during his freshman year of 2013-14. Once healthy, Braun immediately made an impact, averaging 12 points and five rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman. When the Lopes moved him from power forward to his more natural position of shooting guard before his sophomore campaign, Braun flourished, averaging between 16 and 18 points per game the next two seasons. He led GCU in free throw percentage and rebounding as a sophomore, and scoring and 3-point shooting percentage (nearly 42%) as a junior. As a senior, Braun helped lead the Lopes to their first-ever WAC Tournament appearance, reaching the championship game.

Braun closed his GCU career as the Lopes’ all-time leader in three-pointers made (257), free throws made (449), games started (115) and is tied for most games played (122). He was an All-WAC 1st Team selection twice and All-2nd Team once. More impressive than that was the three Academic All-American awards he earned and his cumulative 3.6 grade point average. After graduating from GCU, Braun headed overseas, playing professional basketball in Australia (earning league MVP honors after his first season) and Germany before returning to the states.
Braun earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from GCU in 2016, and later earned his Master’s in Business Administration from GCU in 2018.

Just a few months after walking off the GCU Arena floor for the final time, he married his longtime love, former Lopes’ Women’s Volleyball player Leigh Stonerook, and they recently celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary. They also welcomed their first child, Amberley, into the world in 2023.

 

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