TCU coach Jamie Dixon addresses NCAA’s notice of allegations
.jpg "TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon watches game film from his team’s win over Winthrop. Despite the win, he sees countless mistakes that the average fan could never catch.")
TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon felt his program handled the situation with former assistant Corey Barker as best it could.
When Barker was linked to the FBI corruption case into college basketball late last season, TCU immediately put him on administrative leave. Once Barker refused to cooperate with an internal investigation, the school fired him a few days later on March 11.
The issue has resurfaced this week with the NCAA serving a notice of allegations to TCU, stemming from Barker’s employment at the school from 2016-19. The NCAA can discipline schools for failing to adequately monitor head coaches and assistant coaches.
Asked his reaction to the NOAs on Thursday, Dixon said: “It has nothing to do with any of our players in the past or in the present. And it has nothing to do with any of our staff. It’s one former employee.
“It’s how you handle a situation. I think we handled a situation as best you could. That’s pretty much all I can say about it.”
Barker, who is now an assistant at New Mexico State, did not respond to a request for comment. New Mexico State athletic director Mario Moccia responded via email on Friday night.
“New Mexico State is not part of the NCAA investigation,” Moccia said. “While this case is pending, New Mexico State will not comment.”
For Dixon and the TCU men’s basketball program, this is the second NCAA-related issue they have faced within the last month.
They were one of four programs at TCU — along with football, women’s basketball and swimming and diving — placed on probation by the NCAA last month for student athletes being paid for work they didn’t do.
The NCAA’s fine was directly related to the money TCU received for the men’s team reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2018, and the men’s basketball program is required to acknowledge the violations in its media guide next season.
Dixon brushed off the notion of how these two situations may paint his program in a negative light from a big-picture perspective.
“All you have to do is look at the details,” Dixon said. “The details speak to it. We know there’s nothing systemic about it.”
As stated, the NOAs deal specifically with Barker and do not charge Dixon or any other current member of the coaching staff.
It’s unclear at this moment whether any of the violations are Level I, which is the most severe.
Barker’s name surfaced in the FBI probe late last season, alleging he received a $6,000 bribery payment to steer TCU players to a specific sports agency in July 2017.
During disgraced agent Christian Dawkins’ trial last summer for the pay-for-play scheme, court testimony suggested Barker quickly returned the “bribe” payment.
Barker was never charged with a crime.
The NOAs are just the first step in the NCAA’s process that could take months to determine what, if any, discipline should be handed to TCU and/or Barker.
TCU basketball, meanwhile, is off to its best start in conference play since joining the Big 12, winning its first two games. The Frogs knocked off Kansas State on Tuesday night.
TCU (11-3, 2-0 Big 12) returns home and will face Oklahoma State (9-5, 0-2) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
