A success? Or a failure? A case can be made both ways on TCU’s men’s basketball season
It’s crazy to think that just last week, college basketball games were being played before the coronavirus pandemic knocked out March Madness.
TCU took on Kansas State in the opening-round of the Big 12 tournament, falling 53-49 at Kansas City’s Sprint Center on March 11 in what proved to be one of the last college basketball games of the season.
That game likely marked the end of the road for TCU, although it had an outside shot of an NIT berth before the NCAA canceled March Madness.
The Horned Frogs finished the season 16-16, marking Jamie Dixon’s first season without a winning record over his 17-year career.
“We didn’t win as many games as I’m used to,” Dixon said. “But I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team this young. I was proud of how they competed, kept battling, played down the stretch and had some good wins.”
An argument could be made that TCU exceeded exceptions this season. This is a team that entered the season picked to finish last in the Big 12 and finished seventh. The Frogs had a chance to earn a bye in the conference tournament going into the regular-season finale before blowing a 20-point lead against Oklahoma.
TCU also defeated three ranked teams for the first time in program history, including a victory over then-No. 2 Baylor on Feb. 29.
On the flip side, the Frogs had plenty of disappointing losses. They blew big leads in losses to Clemson and Oklahoma. They lost a winnable game to Texas in Fort Worth. They had their worst loss in 42 years in an 88-42 whipping at Texas Tech. They went 1-9 on the road.
“I don’t know what expectations are,” Dixon said. “We were picked last, we finished seventh. You had a team that had three returners.
“We had a good group of kids. They worked hard, they liked each other. Could we have won some more games? Yes, I wish we would have.”
Overall, though, it’s hard to label this season a disappointment. Heck, just five years ago, this program went 2-16 in Big 12 play under Trent Johnson. It was 0-18 in the 2013-14 season.
Johnson won eight Big 12 games in four seasons. Dixon has won 29 in four seasons and is among all-time great coaches who have reached 400 wins in the first 17 seasons. The list includes names such as Tom Izzo, Roy Williams and Denny Crum.
As TCU senior guard Desmond Bane said, “Look how far the program has come. We’ve won championships now. We’ve beaten top-ranked teams. The program is headed in the right direction.”
Losing Bane is a significant blow, but TCU should return a solid core to build around.
Assuming everyone is back, center Kevin Samuel and guard RJ Nembhard will enter their junior seasons with plenty of experience. The same can be said for Jaedon LeDee.
Freshmen PJ Fuller, Diante Smith and Francisco Farabello all flashed potential, too, while enduring expected growing pains in their first college season.
Plus, TCU has several players available who didn’t play this season such as Mickey Pearson Jr., Taryn Todd and Kevin Easley Jr. Incoming players include former five-star recruit and USC transfer Charles O’Bannon Jr., who will be eligible for the spring semester, and highly-touted recruits Terren Frank, Eddie Lampkin and Mike Miles.
“The season didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but the young guys showed a lot of fight,” Nembhard said. “This team is close knit. We’ve got a lot of good guys. We’ve gotta execute more consistently and I think that’s going to happen next year for sure.”
Added Samuel, who hasn’t made a decision yet as far as returning next season: “Looking back, I think we exceeded expectations. We lost some close games, but we also had some upsets where we showed our potential for the next couple of seasons.”
