Killer Frogs

2024-25 TCU Men's Basketball: A Full Team Preview

Here is how a team filled with transfers and freshmen can make a push for the Big 12.

Nicholas Girimonte

RJ Jones (left) and Frankie Collins (right) at practice for TCU Men's Basketball
RJ Jones (left) and Frankie Collins (right) at practice for TCU Men's Basketball / gofrogs.com
In this story:

After three straight seasons reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, TCU has raised its standards for success.

However, the 2024-25 Horned Frogs are probably the most doubted of those teams coming into the season.

A Lot Is Gone

Jamie Dixon's squad lost all contributors to last year's team, with Ernest Udeh Jr. being the only scholarship returner who played minutes.

Those who graduated include:

  • All-Big 12 Second Team Emanuel Miller
  • All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Jameer Nelson Jr.
  • Four-year starter Chuck O'Bannon Jr.
  • Starting guard Avery Anderson III
  • 42% three-point shooter Trey Tennyson
  • Three-year backup center Xavier Cork

All six of these players went on to professional careers.

In addition, they lost five players to the transfer portal, headlined by Micah Peavy (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention) to Georgetown and JaKobe Coles to Grand Canyon.

That being said, there are no excuses in today's era of college basketball for not being competitive when losing all of this talent.

Jamie Dixon and staff knew this and reloaded with talent from both the transfer portal and TCU's highest-rated freshmen class in program history.

A Rebuilt Backcourt

There is no secret that a big weakness to last year's team was consistent production from guards.

After the Frog's loss at home to Texas last year, the book was out on how to beat TCU, pressuring guards.

This created a blueprint that other teams followed, which seemed to spiral into a 4-6 finish to the Big 12 schedule and a 72-88 loss to Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

There appeared to be an emphasis on fixing this issue and bringing in ready-to-play guards from the portal, which is exactly what TCU did.

The Horned Frogs brought in two senior guards with a ton of experience to be the projected starting backcourt: Frankie Collins from Arizona State and Noah Reynolds from Green Bay.

Collins led the Sun Devils in points, assists, and steals last season, while Reynolds averaged 20 points and 4.5 assists at Green Bay.

Instantly, these guards give TCU an upgrade from last season in both ball handling and ability to run the half court offense, especially in the pick-and-roll, something Frog fans should see a lot this year.

Jamie Dixon did not stop there.

The Frogs added RJ Jones, a former four-star guard from Kansas State who played in 28 games last year, and Vasean Allette, a dynamic 6-foot-2 scorer who led Old Dominion with 17.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in his freshman year last season.

Both these adds are a nice luxury for TCU because they are both true sophomores with lots of eligibility left, so there is less pressure to perform right away.

I believe that Jones will play minutes sparingly as the coaching staff will wait to see what they have without proven production to look at yet at the college level.

However, Allette seems to be more ready to play big minutes right out the gates. His ability to score and handle the ball is extremely impressive and was one of the top freshman players in the country last season.

Allette notably dropped 25 points on 8-13 FG last season against TCU, and from what I have seen at practice, he might be the most talented player on the team with the highest upside.

Expect Allette to play big minutes as a spark plug, potentially as the sixth man for Jamie Dixon this year.

This is all without mentioning that 6-foot-5 guard Jace Posey will be in the rotation as one of the best athletes in the country at the wing position that will play the role of a slasher, rebounder, and defender who will grow into being a problem for defenses to contain.

Posey is the seventh best recruit in TCU history according to 247Sports who redshirted his true freshman season last year with the surplus of senior guards the Frogs had.

The last guard worth mentioning is three-star incoming true freshman Ashton Simmons who is a possible redshirt candidate but has shown flashes in practice of being a dynamic ball handler to watch.

Altogether, I anticipate TCU's backcourt to flip from a weakness to the biggest strength of the team.

The Wings

I would say the biggest area of loss TCU had to replace from last season was the wing position.

Players like Miller, Peavy, Coles, and O'Bannon Jr. were the backbone of the Frogs that Dixon would rely on when TCU needed a bucket or consistent play from last year.

With that said, the Frogs should have enough skill from both transfers and freshman that fans should be excited about this year.

The transfers and possible starters to watch are seniors Brendan Wenzel from Wyoming and Trazarien White from UNC Wilmington.

Wenzel is the knockdown three-point shooter TCU needed to add and brings a 6-foot-8 frame from the wing position that makes it hard to defend his release.

From what I have seen and others around the program have said, it seems like he never misses at practice.

Trazarien White is one of the favorites to lead TCU in scoring this year after averaging 19.8 points and 6.8 rebounds with UNCW last season.

The 6-foot-7 forward can score efficiently at all levels and has even been compared in play style to Emanuel Miller from head coach Jamie Dixon.

Those two will be rotating with freshmen Isaiah Manning and Micah Robinson.

Like Posey, Manning redshirted his true freshman campaign last season but decided to remain with the program. That, along with his social media presence, is why he is already a fan favorite for Frog fans.

The 6-foot-8 forward gives the Frogs much-needed size, which will give him quality minutes as a great rebounding threat, defender, and athlete who can even stretch the floor when he needs to.

Robinson should be the most hyped true freshman TCU has seen in a while as the fourth-best recruit the Frogs have ever had, according to 247Sports.

The 6-foot-6 forward had high expectations coming in and has exceeded them based on all early reports from practice.

Robinson has a maturity beyond his age, can defend at a high level, handle the ball, play multiple positions, and already has a knock down jumper.

It will be difficult for the coaching staff to keep Micah Robinson from playing big minutes right away. I anticipate him to have the best true freshman season the Frogs have seen since Mike Miles Jr.

Seeing how this group replaces such a stacked group from last year will be one of the biggest factors to look at when viewing how well TCU will be able to perform this season.

A Young Group of Bigs

TCU's big man position is undoubtedly the biggest question mark for me this season.

With how heavily Jamie Dixon and staff brought in transfers of guards, they did not add a single player with any proven college experience who can play the five.

With that being said, they must expect a lot from the only rotational player to return from last season, Ernest Udeh Jr.

Udeh Jr. started all 29 games played for TCU last year as a sophomore after transferring from Kansas, but only averaged 17.3 minutes.

The 6-foot-11 center is an elite talent and former five-star prospect who has showcased his top-tier skill in flashes, but as Jamie Dixon has stated many times, he just does not have much experience playing meaningful basketball.

Udeh Jr. certainly has the capabilities to take a huge next step in his second year in the system and is projected to by many, but this has become a greater need for TCU with his two backups being true freshmen.

The former McDonald's All-American is projected to be TCU's best player in Evan Miyakawa's preseason projections, and Udeh Jr.'s development is probably the biggest X-factor for the success of Jamie Dixon's squad this year.

The true freshmen behind Ernest Udeh Jr. are four-star David Punch and three-star Malick Diallo.

Punch is a 6-foot-7 forward who plays above his height as a very good rebounder and fundamentally sound player who can score through contact close to the bucket and is known for his high motor on the court.

Like Micah Robinson, Punch should be expected to play significant minutes as a true freshman, something TCU has not done recently. Based on all reports from practice, Punch has looked ready for the challenge and ahead of schedule.

Malick Diallo is more of a raw prospect, standing 6-foot-10 as a great rebounding threat under the basket.

The center from Mali probably lacks elite fundamentals and shooting at this point in his career, but Jamie Dixon has said that he might be the most impressive player in practice so far. Given how thin the Frogs are at the center position, the Frogs may need to rely on him sooner than expected.

The Frogs also added three-star Adam Stewart as a walk-on 6-foot-10 big man, who is worth noting if TCU has to go deep in their rotation at any time this season.

I am probably most intrigued by this group of players more than any others simply because they are question marks and the impact they can have on the Frogs if they turn out better than expected.

How Good TCU Will Be

TCU has not been projected to make the NCAA Tournament in any major ranking and is not anticipated to be anywhere near the top of the Big 12.

The Frogs were picked 10th in the Big 12 Coaches Preseason Poll and had no players named to Preseason All-Big 12 teams.

They are not preseason ranked in the AP or Coaches Poll and will not be highly ranked in any advanced ranking system.

Notably the are ranked 58th (10th in Big 12) in both KenPom and EvanMiya's preseason rankings.

With that being said, this was expected and should not bother the Frogs.

Having such little retention with no familiarity to the group of voters and computer systems that widely cover college basketball does not favor them nor should it.

However, this team has talent, and I believe players like Frankie Collins, Noah Reynolds, Trazarien White, Ernest Udeh Jr., Vasean Allette, and Micah Robinson all have great chances to break out and receive All-Big 12 Honors once the season ends.

The Frogs brought in one of the best transfer classes in the country and welcome their best freshman class in program history, and Jamie Dixon has gotten instant impact from new rosters in recent history.

I have often compared this team to the 2021-22 team that brought in a whole new group of transfers and had no expectations of real success going into the year.

That group of transfers became All-Big 12 talent in Damion Baugh, Emanuel Miller, and Micah Peavy as well as key contributors in Shahada Wells and JaKobe Coles.

They went on to be a Mike Miles Jr. no-call against Arizona away from a Sweet 16 appearance.

I am not saying the 2024-25 TCU squad will deliver what that crew did, but do not put a limit on what this coaching staff and group of talent can do.

Even though fans are waiting for TCU to take the next step, I believe that another NCAA Tournament appearance and good retention of young players for next year will be a success for this squad given the projections.

I think that the team chemistry is very high and an improved half court offense will get TCU to this point, so the 2024-25 Horned Frogs will be going dancing.

The program Jamie Dixon is building is impressive, and this is only the start with such a strong influx of young talent.

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today!

Follow KillerFrogs on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well. Download the KillerFrogs app on Google Play or in the Apple App Store.

Published
Nicholas Girimonte
NICHOLAS GIRIMONTE

Nicholas is a student at TCU majoring in Communication Studies with a minor in Journalism. He's from the Bay Area but now calls New Braunfels, Texas home. There's nothing he likes more than watching TCU sports.

Home/Basketball