TCU Basketball: Horned Frogs looking to dance for the first time in 20 years
Under Jamie Dixon, TCU basketball is on the rise. Will this be the season they make the NCAA Tournament? With several top players returning, it could be.
Entering this season, expectations are high for TCU basketball. Given the fact that the Horned Frogs have not made the NCAA Tournament since 1998, this might seem like an odd statement. Yet, Jamie Dixon is turning this program around and he is doing it fast.
In just the first few months as the head coach of TCU, Dixon hopped on the recruiting trail and snagged recruits for the class of 2016. Josh Parrish was already a member of that TCU recruiting class, but in the span of 15 days, Dixon had signed three new recruits, including top-100 recruit Jaylen Fisher, who became the highest ranked signing in the history of TCU basketball.
Entering the year, TCU was picked to finish last in the conference. In the nonconference slate, though, TCU really impressed, going 11-1 prior to conference play getting started. Once they got underway in the Big 12, they stumbled a little bit, but still stood at 17-7 (6-5) through 11 games of conference play. That is where the wheels fell off, though.
The Horned Frogs were a very young team last season and that finally caught up with them. After 24 games of their season, TCU had started appearing on Bracketology posts and were looking to potentially make their first trip to the Big Dance since 1998. Yet, the team ended their regular season with seven consecutive losses.
This put them practically out of tournament contention and they would have needed to win the Big 12 Tournament to go dancing. And they came close to making it happen. After defeating their first round opponent, Oklahoma, the Horned Frogs upset the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks to reach the semifinals. It was then, though, that the team was eliminated by the Iowa State Cyclones.
Although TCU basketball was not given an invitation to the Big Dance, they were named a #4 seed in the NIT. In the NIT, the Horned Frogs won all five of their games and walked away the champions. It might not be the same as making the NCAA Tournament, but that postseason experience will surely help them out this season.
Coming into the 2017-18 season, the expectation for TCU basketball will be that they will make the NCAA Tournament. If they do that, the team will break the streak of 20 years without playing in the Big Dance.
In good news, head coach Jamie Dixon returns 80.9% of his scoring from last season, including each of his top six scorers. In addition, each of these returning players will have another year of experience under their belt and will surely have improved over the offseason.
Vladimir Brodziansky, Kenrich Williams, Alex Robinson, and Fisher were the top scorers from a season ago and all played around 30 minutes per game. But it is not just the returning crew that is going to make a difference.
According to 247Sports rankings, TCU basketball secured the 36th ranked (#4 in the Big 12) recruiting class in the country for this season. Kevin Samuel and R.J. Nembhard will arrive on campus this fall as four-star recruits who stand just outside the top-100 recruits in the class of 2017.
Jumpstarting the offseason, Jamie Dixon and company were able to travel to Australia for five exhibition games. Even though the team was without Fisher, Samuel, and freshman Lat Mayen, they were able to go 5-0 on their trip. One should never put too much stock into the play on these international trips, but winning is always a good thing, even if it is early.
Entering the nonconference schedule, TCU basketball should not be tested too much. Their most difficult challenges look to be Nevada, New Mexico, SMU, Vanderbilt, and a possible matchup with Maryland. Having a strong nonconference strength of schedule is important, and it looks like TCU’s will be somewhere in the middle of the pack. Thankfully for them, the Big 12 is one of the toughest conferences in the country and they will have plenty of opportunities for marquee wins.
The #1 priority for TCU this season is improving on their 6-12 conference record last season. They will need to get that close to .500 if they want a spot in the Big Dance and that should be a reasonable goal.
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With TCU basketball’s returning talent, incoming freshman class, and outstanding coaching, they could start the season in the preseason top-25. How long they will stay there and if they can move up in those rankings will be the question though. TCU has not made the NCAA Tournament in 20 years. It is time to change that.