Former UTA head coach Scott Cross joins TCU Basketball staff

That didn’t take long.

Scott Cross, who was fired as the UTA head basketball coach just a few weeks ago has moved across town, taking an assistant coach position vacated by David Patrick, who was officially announced as the new head coach at UC Riverside just this week.

Cross, who coached the Mavericks for 12 seasons, won 225 games, three conference championships, and made five postseason appearances was announced as Dixon’s new assistant Thursday night. “We are excited and fortunate to have Scott and his family join the TCU family,” said Dixon. “With his success as a student-athlete, as an assistant coach and as a head coach, Scott embodies everything we aspire our players to be and will be a terrific fit for our program.”

I can’t overstate what a huge hire this is for the Frogs, swooping in to pick up one of the top coaches on the market and bringing him in as a top flight recruiter and talent developer. Cross is energetic, experienced, and a perfect fit for the culture of winning that Dixon is working to install in Fort Worth.

The entirety of Cross’ professional career has been in Arlington, where he played for the Mavs from 1994-1998 before becoming an assistant coach for the next eight seasons. He led the Mavs to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008, earned two NIT bids (2012 & 2017) as well as two trips to the CIT (2013 and 2016). He has two coach of the year awards and was a finalist for a third in addition to being named a finalist for the 2016 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award.

Cross is an exceptional recruiter and does a great job of relating to his players. There was serious pushback from UTA fans and alumni after he was let go, despite leading the Mavs on the most successful run in school history over the past four years. While he will likely be a candidate for head jobs in the (near) future, credit to Coach Dixon for acting fast to bring in a big name and a heck of a coach. He will certainly help the Frogs as they look to build on this past seasons success and earn consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.

Welcome to the Frog Fam, Coach Cross!