How TCU’s Trevian Tennyson went from junior college to the best shooter in the Big 12

Jamie Dixon isn’t the type to throw out lofty comparisons just for the sake of talking up his own players.

Dixon has the reputation for his honest assessment of his Horned Frogs’ players in press conferences, good or bad. That’s why when the coach compared transfer guard Trevian Tennyson to a TCU legend at Big 12 media days in October, it raised eyebrows.

“He’s a shooter we haven’t had since Desmond (Bane),” Dixon said on Oct. 18. It was a lofty comparison to one of the best players in program history. Bane shot over 43% on his 3-point field goals before he became a first-round draft pick for the Memphis Grizzlies. Now he’s one of the best shooting guards in the NBA.

Early on, it appeared the expectation could’ve been too much for Tennyson.. He was solid in non-conference play, but only scored in double-digits once, the season opener against Southern.

Then right before the start of Big 12 play, Tennyson was inserted into the starting lineup and almost instantly became a different player. After leading TCU with 23 points against No. 15 Texas Tech on Tuesday, Tennyson is averaging almost 14 points as a starter and making 46.4% of his 3-point shots.

The Arlington native said his game has expanded tremendously since transferring from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“I’ve grown a ton,” Tennyson said after the win over the Red Raiders. “I was just talking about this with old teammates from Corpus. I feel like playing against (Micah Peavy) every single day has helped, they’ve played in the Big 12. Me and Micah have been working out everyday since sophomore and freshman year of college.

Peavy is one of the best defenders in the country and has matched up well against some of the best guards and wings in the Big 12. There’s no better litmus test for individual growth and now Tennyson says he can hold his own against his longtime friend and teammate.

“I’ve seen the difference in the way I play him now, I can kill him (on the court),” Tennyson said with a smile. “Before I wasn’t able to. Now I can see the difference in the way I play and I’m able to break stuff down. It’s a different I.Q. and level of athleticism from where I came from.”

It’s one thing to excel at Corpus Christi in the Southland Conference, it’s another to perform in the toughest conference in America. So how was Tennyson able to do it?

With a work ethic that has become legendary around the program.

JUCO product

In the immediate aftermath of TCU’s controversial 83-81 loss to Kansas on Jan. 6, Dixon could’ve used that moment to question the officiating down the stretch in Lawrence.

Instead he wanted to use the postgame press conference to tell a story about Tennyson, who went off for 24 points and had six 3-point goals against the No. 2 team in the country.

“So our flight got delayed yesterday, we were sitting there four or five hours,” Dixon said. “We practiced, then we got the word it was delayed and left. This guy went back into the gym and started shooting. The kid pays the price, the kid cares and rather mope about a flight being missed, he went to the gym to shoot.”

There are many similar stories about just how hard Tennyson wants it. After the win over the Red Raiders Dixon joked that Tennyson was probably already in the practice gym getting shots up.

Every athlete playing at this level works hard, they have too, but Tennyson’s drive is different because in a basketball sense he came from nothing.

“I’m a JuCo product,” Tennyson said. “I went to Ranger (junior college), there wasn’t nothing. I just stayed in the gym, being isolated, there (were) no students.”

Located about 90 minutes from Fort Worth, Ranger is a small junior college. Tennyson arrived there during the COVID-19 pandemic after a season at Central Connecticut State University.

“It was us, the women’s basketball team and the rodeo team, that was really it,” Tennyson said. “I was just there, so I went to the gym and ever since then I’ve just been like that.”

After one year at Ranger, Tennyson transferred up to TAMU-CC where he became a two-time all-conference player and helped the Islanders reach the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. In three tournament games Tennyson averaged 16.7 points, including 20 against Alabama last March

Jasman Sangha played with Tennyson for two seasons at TAMU-CC. Sangha helped recruit Tennyson to Corpus Christi and ended up being his roommate during their time there. Sangha marveled at just how tenacious Tennyson was to improve.

“I always tell people that I know, I’ve never seen anybody in my life work as hard as Trevian Tennyson,” Sangha said. “He was in the gym before practice, after practice mid-day and then come back at night and repeat. He goes hard every single work, it was like he just had this insane obsession to get better.”

Tennyson’s work ethic eventually began to rub off Sangha, who was dealing with an injury that kept him out of the 2021-22 season.

“I was hurt for 10 months and midway through my recovery he brought me to the gym,” Sangha said. “He started rebounding for me and saying you gotta work on your free throws. You gotta work, I was in a boot at the time. A lot of days he would drag me to the gym, that just shows what type of person he is.”

Sangha added that Tennyson would spend time researching ways to help with his recovery and help his body heal. Eventually Tennyson built his own workout setup at home so could keep putting in work even when he was away from the facilities.

Tennyson showed he can thrive on the biggest stage and credits the staff at TAMU-CC for helping him put in the work.

“At Corpus, I had two graduate assistants that were from home,” Tennyson said. “They saw it in me, they saw I can play at this level and every one of them would just text me, ‘Let’s get up shots at this time, let’s workout, let’s work on this.’ Those two places molded me to come here and be ready.”

As for the success he’s having in the Big 12, Sangha says it’s not a surprise to see his former teammate flourishing.

“He would always say, I’m going to be alright,” Sangha said. “I think he was averaging six or seven points a game in non-conference, he wasn’t doing as well as he wanted, but he said watch when the big lights come on. The work is going to show in those big games.”

More than a shooter

Against Texas Tech, Tennyson’s full offensive bag was on display. He hit hanging mid-range jumpers, took the defenders off the dribble for a key bucket in the lane and knocked down four 3s to lead TCU to its fourth ranked win in the month of January.

Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland heaped plenty of praise on Tennyson after his team didn’t have a way to slow him down.

“He’s obviously known as a shooter, but I thought he was making plays off the bounce,” McCasland said Tuesday. “He created opportunities, just to start the game he shot a floater going left on the baseline that was a difficult shot. Then he was driving down the lane and making good decisions. He was effective in a lot of areas, not just shooting the ball.”

Not only has Tennyson has become TCU’s best shooter, Dixon is trusting him more to guard key perimeter players and also to have the ball more in his hands on offense.

The growth, especially on defense, has been a pleasure for Dixon to see first hand. The veteran coach is also quick to remind people that have problems with the transfer portal that Tennyson is one of the success stories the portal can bring.

“This kid is a feel-good story,” said Dixon whose 25-ranked Horned Frogs host Texas at 1 p.m. on Saturday. “However you stand on the rules and the ability to transfer every year, which it looks like it’s going to be, this kid didn’t get recruited out of high school. He was a qualifier out of junior college, ends up at Corpus Christi and now he’s playing for the local Big 12 school, a kid from Arlington.

“It just goes to show what can happen over five years for a guy that cares and works at his craft. He cares so much that he’s an impactful Big 12 guy four, five years later.”

Tennyson always knew he had what it took to reach this stage and now he’s making the most of it.