Nickname Horned Frogs Head coach Jamie Dixon Division Division I (NCAA) Colors Purple and White; | Home Away Conference Big 12 Conference Location Fort Worth, TX | |
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Arena/Stadium Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena University Texas Christian University | ||
The TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team represents Texas Christian University, located in Fort Worth, Texas, in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. Since 2016, the Horned Frogs have been led by TCU Lettermen's Hall of Fame member, head coach Jamie Dixon. TCU joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012 after being in the Mountain West Conference since 2005. The Horned Frogs play their home games on campus at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena, formerly known as Daniel–Meyer Coliseum, which reopened in December 2015 after a $72 million renovation.
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Early Years
The Horned Frogs began varsity intercollegiate competition in men's basketball in 1908, when the university was located in Waco, Texas. In their first recorded game, the Frogs faced then-cross-town rival Baylor in a 6–37 loss; the Frogs notched their first recorded program win that same season versus the Waco YMCA. TCU moved its campus from Waco to Fort Worth, Texas, after a fire destroyed the central Texas' school's main building in 2010. TCU competed as an independent and as part of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association until joining Southwest Conference competition for the 1923–24 season, where the Frogs won their first-ever SWC game in a January 9, 1924, game at Rice University. During the early, independent and TIAA years, TCU was led by at least six different coaches from 1908 through 1923, and played five or fewer games or did not field teams in 7 of those 15 seasons.
1920s–1970s Southwest Conference era
The Horned Frogs were led into the Southwest Conference in 1923 by a new basketball and football coach, Fort Worth native Matty Bell. Bell transformed the program, accruing a 71–41 (49–30 SWC) record over his six seasons at TCU and leading the Horned Frogs to second, third and fourth place finishes during his tenure. Bell was succeeded by Francis Schmidt, who left the Arkansas Razorbacks to coach TCU basketball and football. On the gridiron, Schmidt led the Frogs to their first SWC title and the gridiron in 1932, and on the hardwood, Schmidt led the Frogs to a combined 72–24 (41–19 SWC) record over five seasons and Southwest Conference championships in 1931 and 1934. The 1931 SWC championship was the Frogs' first league title in men's basketball. Schmidt departed Fort Worth after five seasons to become the head football coach at Ohio State.
Coach Schmidt's departure after the 1934 SWC championship season was followed by a 16-year draught for TCU basketball. Legendary TCU football coach Dutch Meyer fared far better leading the Frogs' football team, where he claimed two national championships, in 1935 and 1938, and three SWC football titles over his 19 year football-coaching tenure, than he did in his three seasons at the helms of TCU basketball. Meyer's basketball record from 1934 through 1937 totaled on 10–37 (5–31 SWC). Meyer was replaced by former TCU basketball and football player Mike Brumbelow, who managed only two SWC wins over the following four seasons, with an overall record of 22–64 (2–46 SWC). Brumbelow was quickly replaced by Hub McQuillan, who led the Frogs to middle-of-the-league finishes in the first 5 of his 7 years as head coach of TCU basketball.
Buster Brannon, a former TCU player under Francis Scmidt, led Horned Frogs basketball for nearly two decades, from 1948 through 1967. Brannon amassed a 205–259 (104–144 SWC) record over 19 seasons and led the Frogs to four Southwest Conference championships in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1959, and the program's first three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1952, 1953 and 1959. Brannon's recorded faded in the 1960s, when the Frogs finished near the bottom of the league almost every year until Brannon's retirement from coaching in 1967. The Brannon era saw the opening of Daniel–Meyer Coliseum (now Schollmaier Arena) in 1961. Johnny Swaim, a former player for Brannon, coached the Frogs from 1967 through 1977. Swaim led the Frogs to Southwest Conference titles and the NCAA Tournament in 1967, his first season at the helm, and in 1971. The Frogs' 1967 NCAA Tournament appearance saw the Frogs' first-ever Tournament win and the program's only appearance in what is now known as the Elite Eight. Swaim abruptly retired from coaching after the 1977 season, remaining in Fort Worth as a businessman until his death in 1995. After Swaim's retirement, Tim Somerville led the Frogs for the following two seasons, notching only a 10–43 (3–29 SWC) record.
Jamie Dixon era
On March 21, 2016, TCU hired Pitt head coach and former Horned Frogs' letterman Jamie Dixon as the Frogs' next head basketball coach. Prior to his return to Fort Worth as the 22nd head coach of TCU basketball, Dixon spent 13 years as the head coach at Pitt, won 4 national coach of the year awards, and ranked as the 9th winningest, active Division I head coach. Dixon's impact at TCU was immediate, where in his first season he landed the highest-rated recruit in TCU history, led the Frogs to their best conference record and finish, best overall record, and first postseason tournament since joining the Big 12 in 2012, and knocked off the #1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the 2017 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City–marking the program's first-ever win over a #1 ranked team. The Horned Frogs won the 2017 NIT Championship on March 30, to cap off Dixon's first season with a 24–15 record.
Season by Season Results
Legend:
= Conference Regular Season Champion
= Conference Tournament Champion
= Conference Division Champion
NCAA Tournament
The Horned Frogs have appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 5–7.
NIT
The Horned Frogs have appeared in seven National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 14–6. They were NIT champions in 2017.
CBI
The Horned Frogs have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their record is 1–1.