‘We’ll finish ahead of what they predicted.’ TCU hoops motivated by preseason rankings
TCU junior guard RJ Nembhard doesn’t believe the Big 12 preseason rankings paint an accurate picture for how the Horned Frogs’ season will go. But he loves the extra motivation provided by the Big 12 coaches who picked the Frogs to finish ninth in the Big 12.
“People are always going to have their opinions. That’s their job,” Nembhard said. “We embrace that challenge. Personally, I’ve never been picked to achieve high things and I’ve consistently just worked, worked, worked. Things fall into place.
“Our team is buying in and working hard. We’re not worried about what critics are saying or what the rankings are. We’re excited and we’re ready for the challenge. We’re definitely going to finish ahead of what they predicted us to be.”
Junior center Kevin Samuel agreed.
“We’ve got to go out there and show them that we’re not ninth,” Samuel said. “We’ve got to go out there and compete and don’t worry about where they picked us. Between the lines, we’re going to show them that we belong up in the top three of the standings going forward.”
Former guard Desmond Bane made a similar statement before last season when TCU was picked to finish last. The Frogs ended up tying for seventh in the Big 12, including victories over three ranked teams.
But TCU didn’t have a banner year by going 16-16 last year. That’s the first non-winning season in Jamie Dixon’s coaching tenure, and snapped a streak of three consecutive 20-win seasons since Dixon took over in the 2016-17 season.
The Frogs enter this season without Bane, their best player from a year ago. He had a team-leading 16.6 points a game.
“We knew he would be moving on and we’ve got some guys who really want to get those minutes,” Dixon said. “It won’t be the same player. It won’t be the same style of play. It’ll be a different guy, but this is going to be a thing where it’s a brand new team. We’re going to have different scoring.
“We ran a lot of stuff for Desmond, but he was efficient. No question about it. This is a brand new team as college basketball is going to be from this time going forward. It’s going to be constantly reinventing yourself every year.”
Nembhard is the leading returning scorer after averaging 12.1 points. Samuel is back, too, after averaging 10 points and leading the Big 12 with 85 blocked shots.
As far as the preseason polls, Dixon isn’t making too much of it. He’s seen the Frogs picked to finish anywhere between seventh and 10th this offseason in the always-loaded Big 12.
“I’ve made it clear to our guys we’re not going to be picked at the top,” Dixon said. “We haven’t been and it’s based on names on rosters. It’s our decision to decide what type of team we want to become.
“Last year we were picked last and finished higher than that. Our history at TCU is probably going to preclude us [from preseason accolades]. We’ve finished higher every year we’ve been picked, but I think it’s going to be unlike any other year. If there’s ever a year where it’s even less important where you’re picked, this would be the year.”
TCU opens the upcoming season against Houston Baptist on Nov. 25 at Schollmaier Arena.
