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TCU Basketball: TCU Horned Frogs 2015-16 Season Preview

By Matt Ostrowski

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TCU Horned Frogs

2014-2015 Record: 18-15 (4-14, Big 12)
Postseason: None

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Head coach Trent Johnson has been slowly but surely leading a turnaround for the TCU basketball program. After two seasons finishing well below 500, the Horned Frogs finally cracked the mark last season, and were even ranked 25th in the country at one point (mostly thanks to an awful non-conference schedule).

But things may be difficult again this season. Johnson loses three of his top four scorers in Kyan Anderson, Trey Ziegler, and Amric Fields. The one guy that returned is Kenrich Williams, and he will miss the entire season with a knee injury. He brings in a pair of freshman and one transfer to try and ease things, but it’s tough to imagine the Frogs making another big leap this season.

Newcomers

G – Lyrik Shreiner (#261 247Sports Composite)
F – Jalon Miller (#231 247Sports Composite)
C – Vladimir Brodziansky (JUCO transfer)

Key Non-Conference Games

Cancun Challenge, Nov. 24-25 – TCU will open up the Cancun challenge with a game against E.C. Matthews and Rhode Island. Should they win that, they play the winner of Illinois State and Maryland.

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    • Assuming the winner is Maryland, that would be a huge matchup for TCU. New point guard Chauncey Collins would have his work cut out for him guarding Melo Trimble, and the frontcourt of Shepard and Washburn has to deal with the versatile Jake Layman and the massive Diamond Stone.

    TCU might be content just to hang around in this one. Illinois State is no slouch either, as they boast one of the best shot blockers in the nation in Reggie Lynch.

    Dec. 2, vs. SMU – This game would be so much more intriguing if SMU was actually playing for something, but they aren’t anymore. Regardless, they’re still a talented team, and Chauncey Collins will have another point guard to chase around in Nic Moore.

    It’s tough to tell what SMU will really look like this season, but this will be a good test for TCU, especially since it will be just SMU’s first true road game.

    Dec. 8, at  Washington – The Horned Frogs first road test doesn’t come until December. Unfortunately for Trent Johnson and his squad, it’s against a Washington team hungry for a tournament appearance after starting last year 11-0, but finishing just 5-15. It will be an environment unlike any they played in during their cake-walk non-conference schedule last season.

    Key Players

    Karviar Shepard – Shepard came in as one of the best recruits TCU has ever had. He had a solid freshman season, posting 9 points, 7 rebounds, and over 1.5 blocks per game. But his minutes went down his sophomore season, from 30 to just 24. Now, he looks to take a major role on the team with Williams out. TCU will look for him to be their standout player on both the offensive and defensive end.

    Chauncey Collins – Replacing a guy who has been TCU’s best player for three straight years won’t be easy. But Collins will try to make the transition out of the Kyan Anderson era as easy as he can for fans in Forth Worth. In rare playing time last year, he posted just 3 points and 1 assist per game. A lot of the burden will fall onto his shoulders with Anderson is gone, and he needs to make a major leap in order to live up to expectations. After all, he did hold his own against Emmanuel Mudiay.

    Season Outlook

    Plenty of college basketball teams have gone through major rebuilds that have paid off extensively, Indiana being the most recent. Obviously, TCU will never get the recruits that Indiana does, thus making it a longer process, but it shows that patience does pay off. TCU is losing too much talent to graduation and injury to expect anything more than a ninth place finish in the Big 12 this year. But a lot of people really like what Trent Johnson is doing down there in Texas. So please, have some patience.

    Next: Texas Tech Red Raiders 2015-16 Season Preview

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