Jamie Dixon is closing in on his first decade as the head coach at his alma mater as the TCU Horned Frogs prepare for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season.
Dixon is entering his ninth season at TCU and the list of accomplishments under his watch is growing.
First time in program history with three straight NCAA Tournament berths.
First time in program history with back-to-back NCAA Tournament first-round wins.
Three straight years with a finish in the top half of the Big 12 standings.
Three straight years with at least 20 or more wins.
Dixon has accomplished it in part because he’s learned to adapt to the changing landscape of the game, which means being open to the transfer portal and to changing his team’s approach on the floor.
Dixon really had to lean into the portal this year. With a massive amount of turnover, thanks to an experienced-laden team that ran out of eligibility, Dixon brought in more than a half-dozen transfers, many of which were high level scorers at their previous schools.
Those players, along with the few holdovers that he and his staff are developing, give TCU a good chance of crashing the party being held by the top four or five teams in the Big 12.
Here’s a preview of the TCU Horned Frogs’ upcoming season.
Odds
BetOnline’s opening odds gave the Horned Frogs +12000 odds to win the national title. The Big 12 coaches picked TCU to finish 10th in the preseason poll,. The Horned Frogs were not in the AP preseason Top 25.
Three Players to Watch
F Ernest Udeh Jr.: Of the returning players, he is the one that could have the most impact on TCU season. The former Kansas recruit is undeniably talented, but to this point he’s underperformed. He averaged 4.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last season. The Horned Frogs would like to see him get those numbers closer to double figures this season.
G Noah Reynolds: The list of elite scorers that Dixon was able to bring in via the transfer portal is staggering. The list starts with Reynolds, as the former Green Bay point guard averaged 20 points last season. He also dished out 4.5 assists and grabbed 3.7 rebounds. He appears to be a versatile guard that can play both the point and the off-guard position.
F Trazarien White: One could look at white as Reynolds’ counterpoint. Like Reynolds, White is transferring in from a mid-major school with a good reputation for basketball, UNC Wilmington. Last season, White averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists. In an offense that likes to play up tempo like TCU’s, that will play.
Biggest Strength
Elite scoring. Dixon had to go out and find it because he knew he was losing most of the offense he had a season ago. He did a terrific job of bringing in players that could make an immediate impact on offense. Along with Reynolds and White, three other transfers come to TCU having averaged double figures at their former school last season, starting with guard Vasean Allette, who averaged 17.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists for Old Dominion. He lured Arizona State guard Frankie Collins (13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists) and Wyoming guard Brendan Wenzel (11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists). They won’t all score like they did last season, but Dixon has options.
Biggest Weakness
Defense. Dixon likes his teams to play defense like his former teams in the Big East while he was at Pitt. He wants them gritty, tough and physical. TCU is one of the few teams in the Big 12 to beat Houston last year because it played defense exactly that way. There’s no way to know if this group can play the kind of defense Dixon wants. Honestly, when you have a large group of players that have never played together before you never know what’s going to happen. While defense tends to come together sooner than offense, it will be interesting to see how this disparate group of players takes to how Dixon wants to play on the defensive end.
Season Prediction
I’m not sure any Big 12 coach has evolved to the new landscape of college basketball better than Dixon. Just a few years ago he bemoaned the change that was coming in the game. Now he just rolls with the punches. He’s built a roster that is undeniably talented and can score with any team in the conference. Their success or failure will really boil down to two things. First, whether this team can emulate the toughness last year’s team played with on the defensive end. Second, whether Udeh can become the interior player of the Horned Frogs believe he can be. Right now we’re projecting TCU with 17 to 20 wins going into the Big 12 Tournament. We think there are overall ranking in the coaches’ poll is a little low.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
