TCU AD backs Jamie Dixon and his men’s basketball team; is irked by UCLA chatter
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati isn’t happy with how the men’s basketball team has performed of late. Nobody in the athletic department should be.
The Horned Frogs have lost six straight and eight of their last nine, with the latest loss being a humiliating 46-point loss at Texas Tech on Monday night. It was TCU’s worst loss in 42 years.
Fans have taken to social media questioning Jamie Dixon’s desire to be at TCU and believing the school should’ve allowed Dixon to bolt for UCLA last offseason. That thought process isn’t sitting well with Donati, who acknowledged his frustration with that mindset.
“I see him work day in and day out and the commitments and sacrifices he has made for his alma mater,” Donati said. “There is no doubt as to his loyalty to TCU.”
Or to Dixon’s track record as a coach. This is a guy who has never had a losing season in his first 16 seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament 12 times.
Dixon reached the 400-win milestone earlier this season, becoming the 11th head coach in history to win 400 games in their first 17 seasons. That group includes coaches such as Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, Nolan Richardson and Bill Self.
Still, this losing stretch has stung the entire university.
TCU looked like a possible NCAA Tournament team just three weeks ago, knocking off the same Texas Tech team, 65-54, in Fort Worth on Jan. 21. Now, Dixon and the Frogs would likely be happy if they play well enough to get an invite to the NIT for the third time in four years.
Dixon’s lone trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 since returning to TCU was thanks in large part to former coach Trent Johnson’s players, namely Kenrich Williams and Vladimir Brodziansky.
It’s one thing to lose by, say, eight points on a given night. But the Horned Frogs’ losing stretch started with a 32-point loss at West Virginia followed by a 20-point loss at Oklahoma. Then, a few weeks later, the total meltdown in Lubbock occurred.
TCU looked like a team lost, turning it over on six of the first seven possessions and posting season lows in points and field goal percentage. Texas Tech’s reserves out-played TCU’s starters late in the game.
As Dixon said in his postgame news conference that lasted less than three minutes, “They played at a high level. We played at a very low level. That’s where you get a result like this.”
TCU has been so unpredictable that even professional oddsmakers have stumbled when it comes to spreads. Against the spread, TCU is just 7-16 this season. That’s tied for the fewest number of wins among Power Five schools along with reigning national champion Virginia (7-15-1).
On one hand, a stretch of this nature shouldn’t be too surprising given the roster turnover TCU faced and being picked to finish last in the Big 12. On the other, TCU still has one of the Big 12’s best scorers in senior Desmond Bane and a promising big man in sophomore Kevin Samuel.
To that extent, Donati hasn’t given up hope. On Dixon, or even this season.
“We have really good coaches coaching really good players, most of whom are new to the program,” Donati said. “Obviously the past few weeks we have struggled and this is not the spot we wished we were in but I do believe we are more than capable of finishing conference play strong and going on a run heading into the Big 12 tournament and the postseason.”
TCU (13-11, 4-7 Big 12) returns to action against Kansas State (9-14, 2-8) on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
