TCU sticking with women’s basketball coach Raegan Pebley for next season
TCU is sticking with Raegan Pebley as its women’s basketball coach.
Pebley and athletic director Jeremiah Donati had a productive conversation about how to turn the program around on Friday, a source said, and Pebley will return for her ninth season in 2022-23.
Pebley, who has a 133-115 record over eight seasons at TCU, has three years remaining on her contract. Given the length of her existing contract, it seemed unlikely that the school would part ways with her this offseason but the Frogs had their worst season in 26 years.
TCU finished 6-22, which was the fewest number of wins since a 2-25 campaign in 1995-96. The Frogs closed the season on a 14-game losing streak with 10 of those losses being by at least 10 points.
But Pebley made it clear following the season-ending loss at the Big 12 tournament earlier this month that she believed she could turn it around.
“I love TCU,” she said earlier this month. “Seriously, Texas Christian University is the best university in the country. It’s been one of the best experiences and being a part of these women’s lives and people I get to work with every day. I’m confident that we know how to get it back to where it needs to be.
“There’s been some rough things that are obvious and there’s been some hard things that are less obvious. What we know is our truth. We know how to get there, what needs to be corrected, and we’ll definitely persevere to do it.
“This is a conference where you’ve seen teams be able to vacillate top to bottom quickly. It definitely requires a lot of hard work and grit, not just by players but the coaching staff and every support staff member that pours into it. There’s been a lot poured into this program and we just want to continue to bring pride to TCU.”
The school extended Pebley’s contract following the 2019-20 season after the Frogs had a NCAA Tournament-caliber team. That team didn’t experience March Madness, though, as it was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
TCU officials granted an extension with the belief that Pebley had turned the program around. The 2019-20 season marked the third straight 20-plus win season for the Frogs.
But the program has regressed, posting two straight losing seasons. Despite the disappointment of this season, Pebley kept a positive outlook from a big-picture standpoint in her season-ending news conference.
“It’s been a struggle throughout the season,” she said. “This is not the type of season this group had worked for, had visions for, but I’m really, truly thankful for how they soldiered on.
“I know they didn’t win all the battles they wanted this season, but they have won a lot of wars throughout their careers. They have a lot to be proud of and I’m proud of the people they are and the graduates that they’ll be from TCU.”
Pebley honored
Outside of her basketball endeavors, Pebley is active in the community and was honored last week as one of four 2022 Bold Women awardees by Girls Inc. of Tarrant County.
“Girls Inc. is in so many ways, the gold standard for coaching, leading and preparing young women for life,” Pebley said in a news release. “They have shown up and stepped up, in so many ways in our Tarrant County community. We are all better because of the efforts of Girls Inc., and it is humbling to be honored by these women and with these other women.”
Along with Pebley, other awardees included Letatia Teykle (Executive Director at the Levitt Pavilion Arlington), Jasmine Ward (Executive Director of Black Ladies in Public Health) and Roxanne Martinez (Fort Worth ISD Board Trustee).
The Bold Women recipients will be recognized at a Girls Inc. of Tarrant County event Thursday morning at the Fort Worth Zoo.
