Inside TCU’s forgettable 2020-21 season and Jamie Dixon’s plan to ‘get better’
Jamie Dixon’s first five seasons at Pittsburgh featured five NCAA Tournament berths, including two Sweet 16 runs. He never had a losing season in his 13 years at the school.
In his first five seasons at TCU, Dixon has one NCAA Tournament berth, two NIT runs and now owns his first losing season. The Horned Frogs closed a forgettable season with an embarrassing 71-50 loss to Kansas State in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday night.
“Obviously this is not what I’m used to, but I knew this was a challenge coming here,” said Dixon, who is the Big 12’s second-highest paid coach at $3.6 million annually behind Texas Tech’s Chris Beard ($4.9 million) according to USA Today’s college basketball salary database.
“I mean, there was no question about it. We’ve got to get better. In a lot of ways we’ve improved it, but certainly not to where we want to get it to.”
At this point, following his first losing season, what is a realistic timeline for Dixon to get TCU to the level he envisioned when taking over the program? The Frogs finished 12-14, losing seven of their final eight games.
There were flashes throughout the season, ranging from a season sweep of NCAA Tournament-bound Oklahoma State to freshman Mike Miles’ development. But there’s also plenty of concerns about building a program in arguably the toughest conference in the country.
“We’re in a whole new world now. There really is no ‘building programs,’” Dixon said. “It’s just kind of you’re filling with transfers and stuff and it’s not the same thing. I think it’s year to year now is what you do and we’ve got to get better. There is no question about it.
“We have a young group. Obviously everybody knows how young the team is. Probably not the right year to do it in the Big 12, but that’s where we are. We’ve got to be better. Whatever you want to call it, we’ve got to be better.”
Dixon believes TCU missed more practice time than any other team in the country due to COVID-19 protocols. He estimated in late January that the program had lost close to 90 practices dating to offseason workouts.
“I guess it showed,” Dixon said.
More deflating was sophomore guard Francisco Farabello being sidelined the final two months of the season due COVID-related issues. Farabello had been expected to play a significant role as one of the top point guard options, but ended up playing in only nine games.
TCU junior guard RJ Nembhard admitted the team never fully got on the same page given the COVID hurdles they battled on a seemingly daily basis.
“I don’t think so,” Nembhard said. “Given the fact that we have so many new guys, you can’t make excuses, but it is difficult. Toughest conference in America. So you have eight new guys and you’re not really getting these reps. Trying to put that together in conference play is very difficult.”
All hope should not be lost, though. TCU had one of the youngest teams playing in the toughest conference in the country.
Given the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, it’s impossible to guarantee everyone returns. But TCU could have a promising corps returning with Nembhard, junior center Kevin Samuel, junior forward Jaedon LeDee, Miles and Farabello. Others flashed during the season, too, such as Chuck O’Bannon Jr., Taryn Todd and Terren Frank.
The Frogs’ have a promising big man recruit joining the program, too, in Navarro College’s Souleymane Doumbia.
“I’ve got a lot of optimism [going into next season],” said Nembhard, the clear-cut team leader. “I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and see how we’re going to progress and how we are going to move on next season.
“But there are a lot of positives. We’ve got a lot of young guys, young talent. Definitely a lot of things to work with going into the next season and hopefully be able to have a full offseason.”
