Led by head coach Jamie Dixon, TCU basketball looks to get back to its winning ways in the Big 12.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: TCU basketball.
Before last season, TCU basketball had three straight seasons where they went 21-13, 22-13, and 21-13. Last year, they wished they had performed that well, instead finishing 16-16 and missing the tournament. The top five scorers from that team are gone, and they’re hoping that some fresh faces, as well as some development from returning players, will allow them to fare better.
Brock Harding and Jayden Pierre from Iowa and Providence are the big-name transfers for this team. Both come from power conference teams and have several years of experience. Keep an eye on Tanner Toolson as well, who will provide a spark off the bench.
The three key returners are David Punch, Micah Robinson, and Jace Posey. Punch showed some promising flashes his freshman year, and hopefully, he can take that step up with an increased role. Keep an eye out for Xavier Edmonds and Kayden Edwards as well. Edmonds was the #1 ranked JUCO player last year, and Edwards is the 2nd-highest recruit in program history.
Lots of interesting pieces, and a great coach to put them together. The Big 12 is never easy, and the non-conference has plenty of tests, but they feel confident in the roster heading into the 2025-2026 college basketball season.
Head coach: Jamie Dixon (10th season at TCU, 25th season overall)
2024-25 record: 16-16 (9-11)
2025 postseason finish: No Tournament
Notable departures:
- Noah Reynolds (12.5 PPG, 3.0 APG, 2.2 RPG)
- Vesean Allette (11.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.5 APG)
- Frankie Collins (11.2 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.4 RPG)
- Trazarian White (9.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.9 APG)
- Ernest Udeh Jr. (6.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.2 APG)
- Brendan Wenzel (6.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 0.8 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Michigan (Nov. 14)
- vs. Florida (Nov. 27) – Rady Children’s Invitational
- vs. Providence OR Wisconsin (Nov 28) – Rady Children’s Invitational
- vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 5)
- vs. North Texas (Dec. 7)
Projected Rotation
PG: Brock Harding (6-0, 160, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 8.8 PPG, 5.3 APG, 2.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 45.4 FG%, 39.8 3P%, 76.6 FT% (Iowa)
SG: Jayden Pierre (6-0, 177, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 12.3 PPG, 3.2 APG, 2.8 RPG, 0.6 SPG, 34.2 3P%, 79.4 FT% (Providence)
SF: David Punch (6-7, 246, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 6.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.9 BPG, 47.7 FG%
PF: Xavier Edmonds (6-8, 245, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 19.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 3.2 APG, 53.9 FG% (JUCO)
C: Malick Diallo (6-9, 238, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 2.2 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 0.2 APG, 49.0 FG%
6: Tanner Toolson (6-5, 194, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 13.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, 45.3 FG%, 34.9 3P%, 79.2 FT% (Utah Valley)
7: Micah Robinson (6-6, 232, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 5.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.4 SPG
8: Jace Posey (6-5, 222, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 4.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.5 SPG, 42.1 FG%
9: Kayden Edwards (6-2, 168, Fr.)
2025 247Sports #49 ranked recruit
10: Liutauras Lelevicius (6-7, 225, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 8.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 SPG, 48.0 FG%, 37.9 3P%, 85.3 FT% (Oregon State)
TCU Basketball team MVP: Brock Harding
You can argue Harding or Pierre for the team MVP, but Harding’s playmaking, along with his shooting efficiency, gives him the nod. Let’s start with the playmaking. He averaged 5.3 APG, top 40 in the country, and 4th most in the Big Ten last year. When he wasn’t dishing the ball, he was shooting at 45-40-77 splits. Not bad. Between Owen Freeman, Payton Sandfort, and Josh Dix, Harding didn’t need to be a scorer, and when he was called, he took smart shots.
Harding’s role depends a lot on the players around him’s performances. Pierre should be a scorer, but he was very inefficient last year. Punch could take that leap, and Edmonds averaged 20 a game in JUCO last year. If those guys are scoring, Harding can remain in his comfortable role of playmaker. If he needs to make some shots and averages 13 a game, he can do that, too, but he needs the pieces around him to succeed.
Harding is also a plus defender. Not as good defensively as offensively, but definitely not a liability despite his 6-0 frame.
TCU Basketball make-or-break player: Xavier Edmonds
As mentioned earlier, Edmonds was the top-rated JUCO player in the country according to JUCOrecruiting.com. He averaged 19.2 PPG, and did it on 53.9% from the field and 73.1% from the line. At 6-8, he also averaged 8.2 RPG and had 10 double-doubles on the season. He proved it last year and will prove this year that he is a D1-level player.
The question with Edmonds is, how good can he be? The competition from JUCO to the Big 12 is obviously a huge leap, and while he’s not expecting to score 19.2 for TCU this year, what will we see from him? The answer will determine TCU’s ceiling. If he can be a top-three scorer on this team, there should be no issues reaching the tournament. If his game doesn’t translate up, they’ll really struggle to get frontcourt scoring, which is a huge issue.
Key analytic: Free Throw %
TCU was shockingly bad at free throws, which has the word free in its name. They shot 64.7% as a team, 354th best in the country, out of 364. The only power conference team that shot worse than them was Utah. The good news is that the transfers they brought in are better free-throw shooters than the ones they’re replacing. Harding, Pierre, Toolson, and Edmonds all shot between 73-79% last year.
They still have Punch and Posey from last year’s team, who shot 52.9% and 53.1% from the line last year. You would assume they spent some time in the offseason working on this, and it’ll be crucial because they can’t leave points on the board like they did time and time again last year.
TCU Basketball 2025-26 projections
Projected conference finish: 10th in the Big 12
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit