NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TCU VS OHIO STATE

March 18, 2026

Jamie Dixon

Brock Harding

Xavier Edmonds

Tanner Toolson

Micah Robinson

Liutauras Lelevicius

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

TCU Horned Frogs

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're going to go ahead and get started. We're lucky to be joined by some of the TCU student-athletes. First off, congratulations on being here. It's quite an accomplishment. I'm going to open it up for questions starting right here up front.

Q. Micah, I asked David this earlier in the week, but you were one of the guys who were here last year, went through some lumps and you came back. How rewarding is it that you made that decision and you're in the NCAA Tournament?

MICAH ROBINSON: It definitely means a lot. I feel like that's something that we had kind of set. That's something we wanted to get done coming back. Last year I was having to watch the tournament from home definitely hurt.

It just kind of means a lot that we're able to all come back and reach our goal of making it to March.

Q. This question is for Brock. Two years in the Big Ten, now in the Big 12. What are some of the differences in both leagues?

BROCK HARDING: I would say style of play for sure. A lot bigger basketball. A lot slower. This place in the Big 12 is a lot different, a lot more defensive intensity. I would say those are the two biggest differences.

Q. Question for Xavier. Obviously you spent two years at JUCO. I see you're pretty excited to be here. How much does it mean to you to be here at March Madness?

XAVIER EDMONDS: It's crazy because I was thinking about it on the bus how I came from JUCO. Just being here, it's kind of surreal. It's something that I have to process a little bit just being here.

I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful that I have the teammates to get me here, the coaches to get me here. We want to come out here and show what we're made of.

Q. Question for Tanner. I know for most of you guys it's the first time in the NCAA Tournament. But you played three Number 1 seeds, Houston, Iowa State. How did that big game experience help you guys in this environment?

TANNER TOOLSON: Absolutely. More than anything, it helps our mentals, knowing we can compete with anybody in the country. We have a good matchup against Ohio State in the first round. Then who knows what we'll play in the future. Knowing that we can compete against anybody and that we can beat anybody.

Being in the Big 12 really helped us as well, a lot of big tests. So I think that swings in our favor in March.

Q. Brock, you played Ohio State four or five times in your career. They've got most of the same players. What stands out about this unit compared to the one you played at Iowa?

BROCK HARDING: I would say a really together group. They've won a lot of games this year. This is the first time they've been in the tournament since I played them back at Iowa.

First in the tournament for both of us. Got some history with them. Had some good games with them in Iowa. It will be fun to play them tomorrow.

Q. Question for LT. Now that you guys have a chance to watch Ohio State on film, what stands out to you about them?

LIUTAURAS LELEVICIUS: Mostly how big and physical they are. It was interesting to watch their offensive plays. I think they're quite tough to guard, so it will be a big challenge for us. We're getting ready, and we'll be ready for that. I don't know what else. Yeah, just how big they are. Their guards are big. They can shoot the ball. They can drive to the rim.

It will be a challenge for us, but we'll be ready.

Q. Question for you, Xavier. LT just mentioned how big the lineup is. I know they've got a 7-footer. How exciting is that for you to go up against another talented frontcourt?

XAVIER EDMONDS: It's really exciting, especially this year being able to compete against high-level bigs in the Big 12. It's something I really look forward to, accepting the challenge and going out there and giving it my all. Hopefully we can come out with the win and do what we need to do to get on to the next round.

Q. I know we talked, Micah, about how you wanted to grow as a player. Over 30-something games, how do you feel you've made that progress in terms of your pace and your growth this year?

MICAH ROBINSON: Definitely I feel like I've made a lot of growth from last year. Mainly I feel like one of the biggest things I've grown in is kind of like the mental side of the game. I feel like I've kind of changed the way I kind of view the way I approach games. I feel like that's been kind of one of the leading factors in some of my success this year.

Obviously there's been ups and downs, but I feel like just that is kind of one of the main things that we kind of talked about that has kind of led to some of my success this year.

THE MODERATOR: We're going to get started with TCU head coach Jamie Dixon.

Coach, if you could give us an opening statement.

JAMIE DIXON: Just had our guys out here earlier. You had a chance to see them. It's kind of a seven-man rotation. Wanted to get all seven of them out here, but rules are rules in the NCAA. Couldn't do that. Don't want to do what the Coach says. Maybe they did have them out here, so I take that back.

Just had practice over at Bob Jones University, and then we're over here to get some shots up. It's a good morning to start and great to be in Greenville. It's one site I've never been at. So thank you for adding this one to the number.

Excited to be here. Excited for our guys. I like how we're playing. We've gotten better as years have gone on, that's what everyone continues to say. That's what you're supposed to do. That's a goal of every coach. Obviously we're young and small and wish I shot it better.

I just said it earlier, we're big and old and 3-point shooting is expensive, so we find ways to get it done. I like our team. I think we can shoot it better here. I'm waiting for this tournament to be the time when we put it all together offensively.

Q. Jamie, you were talking about roster building and what it takes to build a roster in this era. How important was it to have guys like David Punch and Micah come back for this year?

JAMIE DIXON: I don't want to -- we have RJ, we have Ashton, we have Jace. I know their numbers don't stand out, but it's really a big part of, I think, we were able to put together a plan in the off-season. They were excited to be back. They've had great -- they've been a big part of our improvement because our practice has been so good, so efficient, so competitive.

I think the six returning guys were really valuable. We had a couple walk-ons too that returned. You see the new scoring a lot, but I can't speak enough about all the guys that have returned, as you're pointing out. You make a really important point.

I think that was continuity. Yeah, we needed other guys and we need some guys that score more and do other things and some more size that came with it -- I'm forgetting Malick too. That was unplanned to have a guy we're counting on, starting 5 man we lost five minutes into the season.

I think that whole group of coming together, while the numbers may not look great obviously because of an injury and a couple of other things, they have been huge for us in just camaraderie, efficiency in practice, continuity, attitude, kids that fit our university, our program, what we do as a school, class, going to class, attending and doing all the right things.

I think it's been huge for us, to your point, and it's made it fun to coach these guys.

Q. You've been in college basketball for a long time.

JAMIE DIXON: That's how my questions get answered now. That's when I know. I was wondering when I became one of the old guys. You just started it there.

Q. When you look at a guy like Bruce Thornton, what can he mean to a program?

JAMIE DIXON: He's older than me, I think.

(Laughter).

I got asked a question and I didn't know the answer, this was earlier in the year, three point guards in Power Five. I think it was when we were playing Iowa State. It was the Iowa State kid and Purdue and this kid. Sure enough, here we are playing them.

It's a lot. Resources, they got it, because a really good point guard is going to be on the block. I don't know where he's from. Is he from Ohio?

Q. Atlanta.

JAMIE DIXON: Okay, that ends my story right there. The feel good story of staying close to home.

He's good. I guess I just spent the whole practice screaming how we're going to guard them, so talking about him the first question, I've got to get in that mode.

He shoots inside-outside. I was shocked when I saw his field goal percentage of 56 percent, and I thought it was wrong. I yelled at our SID showing it's wrong, and it's right. 56 percent, that's unbelievable for a guard. I didn't yell at him. I'm just kidding. That's amazing.

He's really good. He's a four-year guy. And like I spoke to, they're committed to keeping their best players. Congratulations to Ohio State.

Q. For those of us that didn't see your team at the end of the year, what are some of the specifics with how well your team played 8 of the last 9?

JAMIE DIXON: It was a lot of things. You can pick whichever one you want to write about and go with your angle. V came back. That gave us another body, especially on the defensive end. Kind of changed our rotation. We got LT and Tanner some more minutes, I think, slightly more for Tanner. Micah started, others came off the bench even though their minutes are about the same.

We're healthy. All those guys are healthy. Our schedule was not quite as tough, but certainly tough. We beat Iowa State and Texas Tech. I think it's a variety -- we've got a variety of young guys. X got better, less foul trouble, as you hope for young guys on a young team. As a coach, you want your team to get better, especially when it's a young one.

I gave you about ten there. You pick which one you want to go with or use your own too. You can go do that. That's the ten I got off the top of my head.

Q. Congratulations for another year in the NCAA Tournament. You mentioned Bruce Thornton. What are some of the other challenges you see in facing Ohio State?

JAMIE DIXON: Mobley is back or playing more consistently or out there a time and I think healthy. That's huge for them. So the two guards. Obviously the forwards are dynamic, can play inside and out. I think we match up good with those guys. Their big guy plays on the perimeter, but we guard pretty good on the perimeter with our bigs. So hopefully we can contain him. I'm more worried about him off the dribble.

That's their five starters. I think our bench -- one of our strengths is our bench. When I say bench, the two guys coming off are really starters. We start seven guys. If you look at our minutes, it's pretty even between those seven. That's another thing, we've gotten our minutes down to our guards. Throw this one in there too. I think we've got our minutes down. No one is over 30, but everyone's above 20 against those guys or 25. We really want to keep all of them to 25, our seven players, 25 to 30. I don't know if I've ever just played seven guys like this, but this has worked well with our guys.

Those five guys that are obviously -- and I think now no one had better come off the bench and dominate us, but they've really relied on those five guys.

Q. What type of growth have you seen from Micah this season?

JAMIE DIXON: Yeah, he does everything right. I joked with him yesterday -- I don't think I was joking, though. He does everything right, so you want him to be a little more vocal and be that leader for us, and he's getting there. He does it by his actions, and he whispers a little bit too. So I guess that counts.

Defensively he's terrific. He guards on the perimeter. He can guard inside. He guards oftentimes the leading scorer. He's a great weak side defender as well, off the ball defender. I think he's gotten better. He's in the gym.

Another guy that I mentioned earlier, I know we're a better shooter team than we've proven by the numbers. He's another guy that can be more efficient for us. He's another sophomore. How many teams are starting three sophomores. X is a JC guy.

Yeah, Micah's as good as any player we have on our team. He's just a well rounded-guy, does a lot of things for us.

Q. Do they remind you of anyone in the Big 12? Does Ohio State play like or resemble any team you saw in regular season?

JAMIE DIXON: I don't know, I thought about that, homecoming for Brian bringing him back to South Carolina. That's the exciting thing about being back here. There's 16. I've got to come up with one, Brian, to answer your question.

I'm trying to think of a 5 man that plays on the perimeter. Not as many as you would have thought. 5 man on the perimeter. Maybe Iowa State, I don't know, to some degree. Just to kind of compare him, Buchanan and their 5s, kind of basing it on that.

I don't know. I'd have to think it through a little bit more. There's 16. I'd probably need a pad and paper to go through it all, so that would be the best off the top of my head.

Q. I was listening to your media availability right after the matchup was announced, and you said there were several Ohio State players you had recruited. I just wondered what sort of background you have with the roster and how familiar you are with a couple of those guys?

JAMIE DIXON: I don't know if I can say names. Wouldn't that be tampering or something? Are you setting me up or what?

(Laughter).

On the transfer, there was a couple guys -- you can probably say that about every team now because they're getting recruited three, four times in their career. So they kind of overlap. Yeah, a couple guys off the bench that I remember. I had a hard enough time getting kids out of Ohio when I was 15 minutes away, when I was in Pittsburgh. It's not a place that I would venture into too often because I found generally they're going to Ohio State, and that's a battle I don't like to fight.

Is it a violation if I talk about the teams and who we recruited there? I remember Colin White, we recruited him. We looked in, and it was kind of a strange deal. Saw him play and all of a sudden Ohio State came in and took him, as I referred to. It happened numerous times at Pitt until I figured it out.

But we did get Antonio Graves, put that, Mansfield, Ohio, was a great player for us at Pitt that Ohio State didn't want, and that's how we were able to get him. To your point.

The transfer tale, we looked into him because we played against them. That wasn't location that got him there. I didn't even know where Thornton was from, so I didn't recruit him. Saw Mobley play.

Those couple guys. Those are what stood out because, as soon as we played him, I was like how's the White kid doing? That's it.