‘Thrown in the fire,’ TCU freshman Fisher holding up in Big 12

The first thing Jamie Dixon needed at TCU is the first thing any basketball coach needs — a point guard.

He remembered Jaylen Fisher’s name.

“My assistants had pointed him out to me at Pittsburgh,” Dixon said. “We tried to get involved with him early on. Was well aware of him.”

When Dixon made his move to TCU, he and Fisher reconnected thanks to assistant Ryan Miller, who was hired from UNLV, where Fisher had committed.

That was that. Dixon had his point guard, a cornerstone of the budding rebuild of Horned Frogs basketball. Fisher is tied for eighth in assists in the Big 12, the only freshman to rank in the top 15 in the league, as the Frogs (14-6) get ready for a nonconference game against Auburn on Saturday.

“There was no question in my mind,” Dixon said. “I had watched the film, obviously. Knew the needs. Anytime you get a job, if you can line up a point guard at a new place early, you’ve got a big jump on everything else.”

Dixon has also used Alex Robinson, a sophomore from Mansfield Timberview, and senior Michael Williams.

But it’s Fisher’s show. Dixon has entrusted the offense to him despite his youth — the Arlington, Tenn., recruit was only 17 last spring when he became Dixon’s first commit with the Horned Frogs.

“Jamie Dixon’s a good man,” Fisher said. “He just let me know how it’s going to be.”

It was going to be tough, Dixon said of the Big 12, and it has been — lately, anyway.

Fisher had four turnovers Monday at Oklahoma State as TCU lost a third straight game. Last week at Texas Tech, the first game of the losing streak, Fisher played only 15 minutes because of foul trouble and finished with one assist.

“We’re throwing him in the fire, but he’s done terrific,” Dixon said. “We’re going to ride him and we’re going to live with him and we’re going to enjoy and cherish what he’s done for our program.”

The message is reinforced by teammates, even seniors who learned early on they would be led by a freshman point guard.

“He’s young. He shows that freshman personality a lot,” senior guard Brandon Parrish said. “But at the end of the day, he’s tough. When you see a point guard that’s willing to put his nose into things, willing to make plays, willing to take big shots, not afraid of the moment, you got to embrace it. I’m a big effort guy. If you show effort, that means you care. Just seeing his effort, that upped his respect level with me.”

Freshman guard Desmond Bane, Fisher’s roommate, sees evidence nightly of Fisher’s approach.

“There’s a lot of pressure, obviously, being the point guard as a freshman in the Big 12,” Bane said. “But he’s built for it. He’s in the gym every night, working on his game. I’ll walk in his room, 1 o’clock in the morning, he’s got highlights on the TV. He’s trying to get better. He’s adjusted well to the pressure.”

Dixon didn’t have much time to recruit last spring. Hired in March, he had less than a month until signing day. He had to nail a home visit with Fisher.

“I think it was the first thing I did,” Dixon said. “We didn’t have a lot of recruiting days left. That was the first day. It was just a great visit, just being with him, his mom. Most positive people in the world, Jaylen and his mom. She’s so positive and happy and encouraging to her son. Hit it off, and then obviously we had him in on the visit.”

Fisher remembered the visit like this: “Lots of laughter.”

In May, he signed as TCU’s highest-rated recruit ever.

“It’s a great group, the perfect group for me to come in,” Fisher said.

TCU’s sparse reputation in basketball didn’t bother him.

“Before I went to my high school, they weren’t winning, either,” he said. “I knew change could happen. It’s just about the players and the coach.”

For Dixon, that rings as a point guard mentality.

“He’s just always been a kid confident in himself, loves playing and competing, not caught up in the other stuff,” he said. “That’s hard to do for a 17-year-old or an 18-year-old. And that’s what really stands out to me. He’s his own person, and he’s confident and believes in doing the right thing. Believes in himself.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 11:47 AM with the headline "‘Thrown in the fire,’ TCU freshman Fisher holding up in Big 12."