Grand Canyon University formally announced the hiring of former New Mexico State basketball coach Marvin Menzies as an assistant coach. 

Menzies was fired after three seasons at Nevada-Las Vegas, and the former Aggies head coach will forego approximately $800,000 in buyout salary over the next two years for taking the job in Phoenix under head coach Dan Majerle. 

Majerle's team has lost to New Mexico State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game the past two years.

"I'm excited because this is a great step for our program," Majerle said in a GCU press release. "We've been very successful. We're just trying to take another step to make that big leap. It's always the hardest so I'm excited about him being part of the process to help us do that.

"He realized how special GCU is. He's like everyone else. He came to campus and was blown away by what he saw. He knows what kind of program we have and how close we are. We're lucky and excited to have him."

Menzies was 198-111 (.641) at New Mexico State during his 2007-16 tenure, which included five NCAA tournament visits. Menzies was 48-48 over the past three years at UNLV.

"My family and I considered several other offers but we just could not pass up the opportunity to work with a great administration and a great university with an amazing fan base and student population. I'm looking forward to what I can add to what they've already started building," Menzies said in a GCU press release.