BIG 12 CONFERENCE BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 20, 2021

Jamie Dixon

TCU Horned Frogs

Media Day Press Conference

JAMIE DIXON: Certainly looking forward to it. Obviously I think we're all in the same position, a lot of new players, but excited about it. College basketball, the new era.

We've had a good summer. Had a good practice in the fall here, had a scrimmage already. Looking forward to our next one coming up.

But pretty healthy right now. Off today obviously. Needed a day off. We got after it pretty good the last couple days. Looking forward to our group. A lot of new guys.

We've got Francisco with us, we've got Mike Miles, returning guys. I guess you could say we got four returning guys, but two of them didn't really play last year. Francisco, obviously, that hurt us, him not being available. Then obviously really we think Eddie Lampkin is a new player in a lot of ways, even though he was with us last year.

Again, excited about our new guys and excited about the improvement of our returning guys as well.

Q. You mentioned kind of a lot of new guys. How hard is it with so much turnover getting the chemistry built up?

JAMIE DIXON: I've embraced it. Obviously we weren't quite in the transfer mode the last couple years. I think when I came to TCU, obviously playing there, the type of school we are, transfers was not probably the way I thought we would go.

The game has changed. Had one transfer in 17 years at Pitt. Our thing was developing guys, watching them grow over four years, have some guys go early in the draft.

It's a new era. It's a new time. Now I've embraced it. Certainly we did this summer. You just try to improve yourselves. We certainly did with the transfers.

As I tell everybody, and I was at some NBA practices this weekend, they're asking how do you do that. The thing is now we're practicing in June. I mean, we have our guys. Maybe before you had two hours, now you have four to work with your guys. Maybe you're doing shooting drills and skill work type things. For us it was five on O, putting stuff in, five-on-five as the summer progressed because the guys wanted to do that.

You really have another couple months to prepare your team. The reality is you're going to have older, bigger, stronger, more mature guys because of the transfer. You just got -- really it's putting them in your system and getting the guys to play together, but giving them those opportunities in the summer now, June, July, September as well. Then obviously practicing in early October.

I've embraced it and looked forward to it. I think the players like it. That's what they're here to do, get better, compete and play. We're certainly doing that now here almost year-round.

I'd say a lot of things, talked about the NCAA, different things, what could have been done, what should be done, what they're doing. But the reality is we can work with our guys almost 49 weeks of the year now. I mean, that's really our schedule, every schedule, within the rules. Probably gave up two weeks off there in the finals, but they're going to be on campus, working out, they're going to be with strength coaches, GAs on their own, voluntary.

We've got the time. We have the opportunity. You got to get them playing together.

Q. Speaking of the transfers, what have you seen from Emanuel Miller and Micah, the type of impact from a scoring perspective?

JAMIE DIXON: Yeah, I mean, physically, as I said earlier, these are guys that have played in major conferences. They've gone through the battles. Their bodies are more developed than a freshman. That transition has already been accomplished somewhere else.

But they're just two guys that play really hard. They give us a nice combination. We're kind of playing them as interchangeable forwards, if you will. Both can handle the ball. Both can shoot the ball. Both defend, rebound.

We've certainly upgraded that spot, those spots, since last year. I'm excited about our group. I mean, we have 12 good players, guys that belong in the Big 12. Might be the deepest group. I think we've had a lot of good players, a number of kids go to the NBA since we've been there. But this could be the deepest group that we've had as far as those 12.

Now, we have to stay healthy. That certainly hasn't happened in any of the five years I've been here. We've got to do that. I think we can have some good depth year, unlike any year we've had. That's what we've been trying to get to. I think we're headed in that direction.

Those two guys stand out, there's no question, because of where they've been, who they are. I think they've made big strides this summer.

Q. BYU, TCU had quite a rivalry there in the Mountain West. When BYU joins the conference in a couple years, do you think that rivalry will spark up pretty quickly?

JAMIE DIXON: I wasn't there for that. I'll take your word for it. Was that basketball and football? I'm looking forward to it. I was in the old WAC back in the day at Hawaii. We had a nice rivalry with BYU, with the football games and basketball games as well.

I'm looking forward to it. I think it's a great thing. As far as adding the teams, BYU included of those four teams, we've certainly got four great programs, both basketball and football. I think there's no way we could have done any better, and BYU is a big part of that. They're ranked in football. They'll always be good in basketball. It's a tough place to play. I've been there many times. Haven't won there many times.

Looking forward to the opportunity. I had heard about some of the football games when they were playing against each other. Certainly we're looking forward to it.

Like I said, we landed on our feet real well. BYU is a big part of that.

Q. Mike Miles spent some time with the under-19 team this summer. What have you noticed about his game, and how has that helped him getting ready for this year?

JAMIE DIXON: I think he was kind of a little bit under the radar coming out of high school. A little bit of a surprise with how good a freshman year he had to some from outside.

But obviously I was there with the under-19s. He clearly established himself as one of the best guards, if not the best guard. Then really as the tournament went on he really played well, especially in the semis and final.

I saw the growth there. He's really taken on the things that we've asked him or told him that he needs to improve on to get to the next level.

I think the one that stands out to me, other people may not recognize, is his conditioning. His body has changed since he got to TCU. He came in a little chunky, to be honest. His body fat has changed dramatically, his conditioning is way better. Those are the things I really thought we had to address.

I think he's more of a leader, which just comes with being a second-year guy in our league. That makes you old in this league now, or at least a veteran.

Those things really stand out, which are the most important things really for a point guard, I believe. I think he's going to be a better defender. We'll see how that goes going forward here. But I do believe he's going to be a better defender.

Those are really the three areas I talked to him about improving. You saw it in the USA Basketball, especially in the last two games, the championship game and the semis, when we really needed him. That was a great sign for us going forward.

It was a great experience for him, a great experience for TCU to have a guy on that. We never had a guy playing at that level in the history of TCU. Playing on the under-19 team, having success, winning a gold medal, great for him and great for us.