TCU’s Parrish accepts ‘sacrifice’ of starting role in new era

TCU senior Brandon Parrish, the only player to start every game for the Horned Frogs last season, said he has accepted his role off the bench this year as a “sacrifice” he knew was coming.

“Winning is way more important than getting your name called out and getting a handshake,” he said before practice Thursday.

Parrish started all 33 games last season and 79 of 97 games before this year. This season, he has started only one. But he’s second on the team in 3-point shooting and second in points off the bench.

“I embraced the role,” he said. “I figured, we’re not always going to start well, so if I can come off and bring a spark, that’s how I can help this team more than anything. I’m going to embrace that. Through that, feel like I’ve made something of it. I enjoy it.”

Parrish, a 6-foot-6 guard from Arlington Seguin, is 23-for-60 on 3-pointers off the bench. He averages 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in reserve for a team that has outscored all but two opponents off the bench.

“A lot of the energy comes from more than the offense,” Parrish said. “I can come in, rebound, defend, make a few hustle plays. Also, when you don’t start, you see what’s going on out there. You see what your team needs. As an older guy, I can see that, and I can go out there and apply what I need to try to make an impact on the game.”

Parrish was the only player to start every game for the Frogs last season. But he is not the only starter from a year ago replaced by the incoming talent assembled by new coach Jamie Dixon. Former starting guards Malique Trent and Chauncey Collins both left TCU, and former starters Karviar Shepherd and Chris Washburn also come off the bench.

“We’ve talked about that,” Parrish said. “It was a sacrifice you make.”

The sacrifice has not been without benefit. TCU (14-4, 3-3) sits in a tie for fourth in the Big 12, with more conference wins than any other year it has been in the league.

“I’m finally getting to see come to pass the things I had hoped for when I first came in,” Parrish said. “It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. And we were down bad a lot of times. Now, we’ve almost made a complete turnaround. We went from the bottom, now we’re in the middle of the pack, and I feel we’re in a really good position right now.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "TCU’s Parrish accepts ‘sacrifice’ of starting role in new era."