TCU basketball is happy to see Francisco Farabello back in action after a lost season
Every player has juices flowing for a season opener. It marks the beginning of a new year with new possibilities.
For Francisco Farabello, though, the start of the 2021-22 season for TCU men’s basketball carried extra meaning. He relished being on the floor each of his 24 minutes, contributing nine points and five rebounds in TCU’s season-opening 77-61 victory over McNeese State on Thursday night.
“It was great to be able to play again after 10 months,” Farabello posted on his Twitter account. “Even better with people back in the stands.”
This is a guy who found himself sidelined most of last season due to COVID-19 protocol. Farabello played in only nine games with his last appearance coming on Jan. 9.
Farabello felt fine physically, but advanced COVID-19 testing discovered heart irregularities that sidelined him for the final two months.
“They found this out thanks to the NCAA protocols,” he said. “Thanks to that, I was able to find it and locate it super quick. As soon as we knew we worked our recovery from there.”
Farabello was cleared to play shortly after TCU finished its season with a 71-50 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament.
In the end, Farabello’s absence had a significant impact on TCU’s first losing season under coach Jamie Dixon. Farabello had a solid freshman season and was expected to become a main contributor as a sophomore.
In the games Farabello played last season, TCU went 6-3. In the games without him, the Frogs were 6-11.
“We obviously missed him last year,” sophomore point guard Mike Miles said. “We were good when he was playing. When he left, we went down. We missed him. Having him back is definitely going to help us.”
Farabello is known for his high basketball IQ, as he comes from a basketball family, and is one of the most reliable 3-point shooters on the team. All of that was missed, which led to a disappointing season.
As Dixon said, “It was a unique situation. I thought he’d be out for a week and then it became the whole year. You don’t plan for that.
“He’s valuable as a freshman and he’s gotten better over the two years since then. He gives you something. He does everything the right way. He’s in the gym. He’s a smart player. He can shoot the ball. He takes care of the basketball. He’s a good defender. He does a lot of good things and he’s experienced. We missed that.”
Dixon and Farabello both acknowledge that missing most of his sophomore season is a developmental setback for Farabello. However, there are benefits gained by simply watching and observing the game from the bench rather than being on the floor.
“I developed more parts by watching film,” Farabello said. “Sometimes you realize more things off the court than on the court so that helped me. Sophomore year is a huge year for everybody that goes through college basketball. But, since we get the year back, I feel like I’m happy with it.
“I’m going to take full advantage of this coming up here and the next one and maybe do a fifth year.”
TCU and Dixon would welcome Farabello exhausting his full college eligibility. Every team likes having veteran leaders in the backcourt such as Farabello.
In the meantime, Farabello and TCU are focused on getting to 2-0 with a game against Southern Miss on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
