EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CENTERS
 Fantasy Central
 Inside Game
 Video Plus
 Statitudes
 Your Turn
 Message Boards
 Email Newsletters
 Golf Guide
 Cities
 

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

TCU Horned Frogs (2001: 20-11)

The following team preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at this and all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.

Program overview

Eighth-year Texas Christian coach Billy Tubbs, one of four Final Four coaches in Conference USA, was scanning the offensive statistics of his future C-USA opponents. He saw that Memphis averaged 75.1 points per game.

"Ol' Johnny's got 'em running," Tubbs said, and if you couldn't hear the slight touch of sarcasm in his voice, you would as he found other schools.

"Look at Marquette," he said. "Sixty-five points a game."

"What's Louisville? Seventy?" Tubbs said. "Ricky will get them going."

Eventually, Tubbs got to Charlotte, the C-USA scoring champ in 2000-01. "They are getting up and down the floor in Charlotte," Tubbs said. "Seventy-eight-point-three. How 'bout that?"

How 'bout it?

How about meeting Conference USA's new scoring champ, the Horned Frogs of TCU? Make predictions about a league champion, about the player of the year, about the coach of the year all you want. One prediction almost certain to come true is that no team will score as many points this season as TCU.

The nation's leading scoring team last season, TCU's run-it and gun-it style will be something of a shock to the C-USA system.

"We led the nation in scoring last year at 94 points," Tubbs said. "It's embarrassing."

Embarrassing? You mean you'd rather be known for defense?

"Naw," Tubbs said. "You need to be up there dancing with 100 a game."

If the Horned Frogs dance with 100 this season, it will be with a drastically different lineup than last season.

Tubbs lost more than three-quarters of his scoring from a year ago, with five of the Frogs' top four scorers no longer on the roster. The departing players contributed 213 of TCU's 268 three-pointers a year ago, and the club's remarkable .747 free-throw shooting percentage was owed in large part to them.

Tubbs thinks this squad is more rugged and will be better rebounding and defending the interior. He remains confident he has players capable of ringing up the kinds of huge scoring numbers for which the Frogs are best known.

Backcourt

The two players who could most determine TCU's direction this season, James Davis (25.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg at Detroit Murray Wright as a senior) and Corey Valsin (18.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg at Dallas Lincoln as a senior), are both redshirt freshmen whom Tubbs said proved to be among the best players in practice late last season.

Tubbs said he gave the red-shirts to Davis and Valsin, 6-4 1/2 and 6-5 1/2, respectively, because of TCU's backcourt depth and experience last season. Their abilities, he believes, will keep TCU's high-powered offense revved sufficiently.

The perimeter will be held together by -- who else? -- Nucleus Smith, a 6-2 sophomore who averaged 6.9 points, 1.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds last season. Smith played right at 20 minutes per game, and hit 51.5 percent of his shots, including 54.6 percent from inside three-point range.

A strong finisher and another of TCU's Michigan Mafia, Smith can play either the one or the two this season.

The most likely complement to Smith in the backcourt is a freshman, 6-2 Corey Santee from Flint, Mich. Santee averaged 20.0 points and 7.0 assists as a senior at Flint Northwestern (and was runner-up for Michigan Mr. Basketball). He and Smith can alternate running the point, with Santee the better pure shooter.

Alan "Junior" Blount, a slight 6-0, 155-pound junior, will also be a factor on the perimeter. A transfer from Connors (Okla.) Junior College, where he averaged 20.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season, Blount could play either guard position. He fits at the two because of his shooting and despite his size.

Frontcourt

The most promising returning player is versatile 6-8, 225-pound forward Bingo Merriex, a senior whom Tubbs believes will significantly raise his averages of 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds, if he recovers from a broken right foot suffered in a pickup game in late September. TCU forward Merriex will be out action up to eight weeks.

Merriex averaged 21.7 points over the final seven games of last season, and Tubbs is up front about his expectations for the Wichita Falls, Texas native.

Although he won't score as many points as Merriex, 6-9, 230-pound senior center Marlon Dumont enters the season with the same kind of high expectations. Though he averaged only 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds last season, Dumont is an athletic interior player whom Tubbs believes will make TCU a much better rebounding team.

Junior-college transfer Jamal Brown, a 6-7, 228-pound forward, earned a reputation as a tenacious rebounder at Seward (Kansas) Junior College last season. Tubbs is excited about the potential of Brown, a native of Baltimore who averaged 21.9 points and 14.1 rebounds last season.

Brian Carter, a 6-11, 210-pound center, spent last season at Winchendon (Mass.) Prep, but, like so many TCU players, is originally from Michigan (he averaged 19.0 points and 13.0 rebounds as a senior). He brings good skills with him, but his shot blocking and rebounding will be most useful this season.

Rebel Paulk, at 6-10, 240-pounds, could provide a nice inside presence, but he has never given Tubbs much of a reason to play him consistent minutes. He averaged just 0.7 points and 1.1 rebounds last season in 18 games.

Marcus Sloan (20.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg), a 6-8, 204 pound freshman from Houston, could contribute at power forward, but will likely serve as more of an apprentice this season.

Bottom line

Tubbs said coaches at the Conference USA spring meetings told him his club would find running more difficult in C-USA.

"Someone said, you will not run on Southern Miss," Tubbs said. "Well, what if we don't guard them? Are they going to turn down a layup? If they do, their crowd's going to boo them."

This is the kind of brash approach C-USA needs, and Tubbs should have another entertaining and competitive team, no matter the lack of substantial experience on the roster. Tubbs says the newcomers, as a group, are as good as any class he has recruited to TCU, and his coaching style always seems to bring out the best in players.

The question is: Can TCU handle C-USA's more physical style?

Tubbs doesn't mind the lack of experience, and says he actually likes young teams because there are usually fewer agendas. TCU will also have to adjust to a wider variety of defenses, with most C-USA coaches willing to mix in zone or at least employ trapping halfcourt systems to disrupt offensive rhythm.

Merriex will carry a heavy load of expectations into the season, and Smith must provide the stabilizing influence in the backcourt. Tubbs will need Dumont to establish himself as the kind of strong inside player who can compete in C-USA, and TCU must become physically tougher in this new league.

If Davis and Valsin have the kinds of impacts Tubbs foresees, then TCU will be a factor in C-USA's National Division.

With a team so young, however, this is more of a transition year. An NIT bid would qualify as an excellent season. Anything more than that and Tubbs will have done one of the best coaching jobs in his illustrious career.