TCU surprised a lot of people last year. TCU doesn’t schedule too difficult in the non-conference slate as they’ve started out undefeated or with one loss on a consistent basis. TCU got some really big wins against #7 West Virginia, at. Oklahoma State, and swept Baylor for the first time since joining the Big 12. It also included their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998, falling in the first round to Syracuse. Jamie Dixon has slowly started to turn this program as he’s gotten them to back to back postseason appearances.
TCU does lose their top 2 scorers from a year ago with Vladimir Brodziansky and Kenrich Williams both going pro.It starts this year with TCU’s backcourt as they return two of the better guards in the conference with Juniors Jaylen Fisher, Desmond Bane, and Senior Alex Robinson. Fisher finished 2017-2018 with 12.3 PPG and 5.4 assists. Robinson had 9.7 PPG and 6.1 assists per game. Bane finished with 10.2 PPG. TCU does have some guys waiting in the frontcourt, but the experience will be the key. Kouat Noi returns, but the center position will be put on JUCO transfer Yuat Alok. J.D. Miller and Shawn Olden will contribute off the bench as well as true freshman and former Top 100 recruit Kaden Archie (247). TCU has the talent to go toe to toe with anybody in the conference, the question is who will step up and become the #1 player?
Notable Non-Conference Games:
December, 5th- at. SMU
December, 7th- USC (Basketball Hall of Fame Classic)
January, 26th- vs. Florida (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
TCU’s slate once again is really weak with their biggest non-conference game before 2019 is USC in a “Neutral” site game. Out of the 13 games they have, only 2 of them are power 5 and one of those is required (Florida). Games like Hawaii Pacific, CSU Bakersfield, Fresno State, Lipscomb, Eastern and Central Michigan isn’t going to help your RPI once tournament time rolls around and also doesn’t test you before conference play, so we’ll see how TCU does and if they can take care of business. However, that Florida game is huge for the Horned Frogs and a win at home against a very established and talented Florida team would be huge.
Projected Starting Line-up:
PG: Jaylen Fisher (Jr.)
SG: Alex Robinson (Sr.)
SF: Desmond Bane (Jr.)
PF: Kuant Noi (So.)
C: Yuat Alok (Jr.)
Projected Finish: NCAA Tournament, 2nd Round
