TCU Men’s Basketball coach Corey Barker placed on administrative leave

According to a statement released by TCU Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati Friday afternoon, men’s basketball assistant coach Corey Barker has been placed on administrative leave.

“While TCU conducts an internal review, assistant men’s basketball coach Corey Barker has been placed on administrative leave,” Donati said. “In light of the ongoing judicial process and our institutional practice of not discussing personnel matters, we will have no further comment.”

Barker, who has been on Jamie Dixon’s staff since the former Frog player returned to Fort Worth, was linked to the FBI college basketball corruption case Thursday that spans years of bribery, pay for play, and other illicit activities. Barker specifically is accused of accepting a $6,000 bribe from Christian Dawkins, an agent who has been convicted of paying coaches to steer potential NBA prospects his way - and received a six month prison sentence earlier this week for doing so. The federal government raised the charge Thursday in a superseding indictment in New York. Barker has not been charged with a crime, nor is he expected to be, but having his name in the report is certainly not a good look for a TCU Basketball program trying to establish itself as a legitimate contender.

Upon the revelation of the subpoena, Donati issued a statement Thursday, saying “TCU recently received a subpoena, a court order from the Southern District of New York, requiring us to provide specific employment records related to one of our staff members. After receiving the subpoena, we began gathering the responsive information and conducting an internal review. We learned this afternoon of the superseding indictment filed in the same matter, and we are evaluating how it impacts our review. Out of respect for the ongoing judicial process, we have no additional comment.”

The player in question has not been identified, but the phone call in question took place in the summer of 2017. Barker allegedly said that signing the player would be a “layup” for Dawkins. TCU has just one player in the NBA - and he was never professionally associated with the convicted former agent.

No assistant coach that has been linked to the case has retained their job, including Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel Richardson of Arizona, and USC’s Tony Bland.

As is expected to be the case with Barker, none of the above were actually charged with crimes.

The Frogs end their regular season Saturday at Texas before traveling to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament. Currently on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament, TCU will need to put together a winning streak over the next week to get back in the Bubble conversation.