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Football:
Patterson, TCU on track to sign all current commitments early | The Star-Telegram
Loaded with four star talent, the class of 2018 fills needs, and should be mostly signed by Friday.
“They’re going to get most of them, if not all of them,” said Billy Wessels, publisher of PurpleMenace.com on the Rivals recruiting network. “I haven’t heard any of the commits say they’re not signing early. That’s what I’ve gathered from around the country, that if you’re a Power 5 program, you’re signing everybody early.”
Cypress running back Taye Barber, Louisiana receiver John Stephens Jr. and Denton Guyer lineman John Lanz have tweeted that they will sign on Wednesday.
Other signing plans with TCU were confirmed to the Star-Telegram by the coaches of South Grand Prairie safety Atanza Vongor and lineman Esteban Avila, Texarkana receiver Tevailance Hunt, Smithson Valley cornerback Trevon Moehrig-Woodard, Washington linebacker Ben Wilson, Lovejoy Lucas receiver Chase Van Wagoner and Louisiana safety Hidari Ceasar.
This is likely the best class the Frogs have ever signed, and they’ll do it early.
The new early signing period was a long-debated issue and will officially be put into place after receiving approval in May. The period starts Dec. 20 and lasts for 72 hours.
Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs were in the race for the Big 12 title until the very end of the season. Oklahoma won the crown, but TCU still sports a good class that filled a few needs.
Four-star South Grand Prairie safety charts own path to college football, TCU | The Star-Telegram
Vongor is a stud, and a really great kid.
Vongor said his father was a soccer player, but he himself gravitated toward basketball, then football. He said as a sixth-grader, he used to make his way into workouts with older football players, even running bleachers afterward.
Eventually, he saw some of the players move on to college, like safety Jason Hall to Texas, receiver Jaelan Austin to TCU, cornerback Caesar Williams to Wisconsin and linebacker Chase Napoleon to Tulane.
“I knew I wanted that to happen for me,” Vongor said. “Freshman year, I was working hard trying to move up to varsity. After I got moved up, I was like, this could be a reality. I felt I had a big sophomore year. A&M was the first school that came calling. SMU came, then Iowa. A&M was my first offer. It was just a blessing. I saw that hard work had benefits.”
Basketball:
Undefeated No. 15 TCU tops winless Texas Southern 91-72 (Dec 18, 2017) | Fox Sports
Once they knocked off the rust, the Frogs looked good against the best winless team you’ll see in college hoops.
Consecutive 3-pointers from TCU’s Alex Robinson and Kenrich Williams sparked a second-half surge, giving the Horned Frogs (11-0) some breathing room on their way to a 91-72 win. The victory extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games dating to last season.
”We’ve taken care of business,” said TCU coach Jamie Dixon, now in his second season at his alma mater. ”I like our guys. I like our rotation. I like where we’re at. We expect to win. This is what we came here to do.”
JD Miller led TCU with 20 points. Vladimir Brodziansky had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Horned Frogs, who led by just two at halftime.
With second-half blitz, Frogs tie school-record win streak | The Star-Telegram
Vlad had a quiet double-double, as he is rounding back into form.
“For a team to get 91 points and not shoot it well, that’s a good number,” Dixon said. “Defensively, I thought we could have been better. That’s what we’ve got to learn from.”
Kouat Noi’s layup and free throws from Vladimir Brodziansky got the Frogs even at 39-39 with 36 seconds left in the first half, and Desmond Bane’s free throws with 0.1 seconds left produced a 41-39 halftime lead.
Williams made two 3-pointers in a 10-TCU run that led to a 53-43 lead less than four minutes into the second half.
“Winning always feels good, but to come out like this at the beginning of the year is good for us,” said Miller, a junior forward who played on a TCU team that lost 21 games two years ago. “We just got to keep it going into conference.”