REPORT: Chuck O’Bannon Jr. to return to TCU Basketball next season

Jamie Dixon and the Horned Frogs will bring back a key contributor with the report on Monday from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein that redshirt super senior forward Chuck O’Bannon Jr. will return to TCU for his seventh collegiate season. The former 4-Star and McDonald’s All-American recruit signed with the USC Trojans out of Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High School in the Class of 2017. O’Bannon was granted redshirt seasons for 2018-19 and 2019-20, having played just four games total in those two campaigns with USC due to hand injuries requiring surgery, before transferring to Fort Worth ahead of the 2020-21 season.

O’Bannon has been a starter and major piece of a Horned Frogs roster that has advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons. During the 2022-23 season he played in all 35 games, averaging 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per game. In post-season movement, TCU has lost PJ Haggerty, Shahada Wells, Souleymane Doumbia, and Eddie Lampkin Jr. to the transfer portal in addition to Mike Miles Jr and Emmanuel Miller declaring for the NBA Draft, with Damion Baugh not yet officially declaring but having participated in pre-draft events. While O’Bannon’s return is a solid boost to the roster, the Frogs have re-stocked the shelves by adding Jameer Nelson Jr (Delaware), Trevian Tennyson (TAMU-CC), Essam Mostafa (Coastal Carolina), and Avery Anderson III (OK State) via transfer portal and Jace Posey & Isaiah Manning from the Class of 2023.

O’Bannon has had some huge games during his time with the Frogs, showing up big in March with 23 points in TCU’s overtime loss to 1-seed Arizona in 2022 and putting up 22 points in a win over Kansas State in the 2023 Big 12 Tournament. He’ll look for even more big moments next season, until then we’ll leave you with his game winning shot in Waco from January: