TCU returns only 1 player with a start for Frogs after 3 consecutive NCAA tourney appearances
TCU (21-13, 9-9 Big 12)
After making three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history, the Horned Frogs return only one player who has started a game for them. Nine scholarship players are gone, including their top seven scorers from last season. Ernest Udeh Jr, a 6-foot-11 junior center, started all 29 games he played for TCU after transferring last year from Kansas. Jamie Dixon is going into his ninth season coaching his alma mater with seven transfers and four freshmen. The transfers include five players who averaged more than 11 points per game last season.
Players to watch
Udeh (junior, C, 6-11). Udeh averaged 4.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while playing just more than 17 points a game in his first season at TCU. The NBA prospect had dunks for 25 of his 39 made field goals.
Frankie Collins (senior, G, 6-2, 13.6 ppg). Collins shot 42.3% from the field while also averaging 3.2 assists and a Pac-12 best 2.6 steals a game last season at Arizona State, where he spent two years after starting his college career at Michigan.
Noah Reynolds (senior, G, 6-3, 20.0 ppg). Another backcourt addition for the Frogs, Reynolds was second in the Horizon League in scoring and also had 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for Green Bay. He first played at Wyoming.
Departures and arrivals
Departed forward Emanuel Miller, TCU's leading scorer and rebounder (15.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) last season, played 100 games over three seasons with the Frogs after two seasons at Texas A&M. TCU also lost four-year starter Chuk O'Bannon Jr., starting guard Avery Anderson III and Jameer Nelson Jr. because of exhausted eligibility. Guard Micah Peavy transferred to Georgetown and forward JaKobe Coles is at Grand Canyon after 100 games for TCU the past three seasons. New TCU guard Vasean Allette averaged 17.4 points and 5.7 rebounds as a freshman last season at Old Dominion, and the 6-2 guard scored 25 points in a game against TCU last season. Trazarien White, a 6-6 forward, scored 19.8 points a game for UNC-Wilmington last year, and 6-8 guard Brendan Wenzel averaged 11.6 for Wyoming.
Top games
The season opener Nov. 4 against Florida A&M is the first of eight games the Horned Frogs will play in Fort Worth in their 11 games before their Big 12 opener at No. 10 Arizona on Dec. 30. Their first three conference road games are against the Wildcats, No. 4 Houston and No. 8 Baylor before hosting top-ranked Kansas on Jan. 22.
Facts and figures
TCU lost 95.3% of its scoring and 85.8% of its rebounding from last season. ... The Frogs have led the nation in fastbreak points each of the past two seasons, scoring 17.8 per game last season. ... Their six road wins last year were their most since also winning six in 2004-05.
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