Summer Sneak Peek with TCU Basketball

Today we met with Jamie Dixon and Raegan Pebley about their upcoming trip to Australia and we also got a chance to watch some of the Men's teams practice afterwards. Here are some things of note from today.

Raegan Pebley

On traveling to Australia: "It really allows us to grow the TCU brand in Australia."

On having David Patrick on the Men's Staff: "When I was at Utah State and Fresno State I coached a lot of Aussies and with St. Mary's up the road there were a lot of Aussies up there, so when I heard DP (David Patrick) was coming to TCU, I was like YES!, that's a good thing for TCU, not just for men's basketball but there's in an impact on the women's side as well."

On the challenges or advantages of playing a European style of basketball: "They play more of a positionless style of basketball that what you see here in the states. It's the way they teach the game, they don't pigeonhole you into a position, whether you're 5-foot-5 or six-foot-five they're teaching them the same types of things. I think it will be a bigger challenge for our bigs than our guard play but the 94-foot pace in which they play the game with will be a big adjustment for our team."

On the relationship with Jamie Dixon: "One of the first things we talked about was growing our two programs together, making sure people knew TCU Basketball was on the rise together. I'm a big believer in 'What's good for the goose is good for the Gander' and we can really support each other and it doesn't have to be one or the other, but it can be both."

Besides Basketball, What will they do in Australia?: "Go to the zoo, show them some pretty cool Australian animals, they'll probably hold koala's and feed kangaroos, maybe take them out to Bondi Beach and let them do some surfing."

Jamie Dixon

Updates on Kevin Samuel and Lat Mayan: They aren't here yet, but both will be here in the fall. They are working on getting some test scores back, but they will both definitely be here for the season. When they get here they could make an impact, they're both older, they're both 19 years old."

On who they will be playing in Australia: "We are going to play against Kouat Noi's and Lat Mayan's club teams. We'll also put on a clinic with their groups for the kids in Melbourne and Sydney.

On David Patrick's impact on recruiting Australia: "When I got here, it was somewhere I wanted to target. I thought international continues to grow, I was watching the NBA Summer League and the announcer said something like one-third of the players in the league were international now and it's obviously trickled down to college basketball and it's 20-30 percent. I think with Dirk being the best international player, the metroplex resonates with international players more and the airport having direct flights to Australia is a nice bonus too."

On the style of play in Australia: "It's growing, they have a great system of growing and developing players, skill wise fundamentally they are at a really high level."

On improvements from the returning players: "I think Jaylen (Fisher) is a better shooter, Alex (Robinson) and Desmond (Bane) are better finishers. (Ahmad) Hambdy has added some more physicality. Shawn (Olden) is a good shooter and R.J. (Nembhard) is a hard playing athletic finisher around the basket. We know Koaut (Noi) is an impact guy from practice after redshirting last year."

Should be a fun time in Australia and a good bonding experience for both teams. For players like Kouat Noi, Lat Mayan and Ella Hellessey to get to go back home and play in front of their friends and family will be special. One of the most important aspects of the trip like Raegan said was the ability to grow the TCU Basketball brand.