TCU Grabs Another Verbal

Kevin Samuel called head coach Jamie Dixon and assistant coach Corey Barker Tuesday morning to give his pledge to become a member of the Horned Frogs program. Samuel follows combo guard RJ Nembhard's (Keller High, TX) lead and becomes the second commitment in the class of 2017 from the state. Nembhard committed prior to the July Open Period and landed 2018 point guard Kendric Davis of Houston Sam Houston. The No.5 ranked player in the state.

Samuel has been a long time target for TCU since the April Open period and the staff continued to follow the Antigua native throughout the month of July. Dixon and his staff were seen at many of the 6-foot-10's games as he played for Orin Bailey's All 4 Sports Dream Team.

"TCU is a great staff and have a great feel for the kids in Texas," said Bailey of Samuel's commitment. "[Corey] Barker built a relationship with Kevin back when he was an assistant at Louisiana Tech, and coach Dixon jumped on Kevin immediately after watching him play. They both showed loyalty towards Kevin and made him feel comfortable.

"Coach Dixon develops bigs and will allow Kevin to play through mistakes. If you can defend in coach Dixon's system you will play. Kevin is a shot blocker and rebounder and the offensive side of his game will continue to get better. -But Kevin has all the tools on the defensive side of a ball and a rim protector."

There have been two separate occasions that Samuel visited the campus of TCU, once back in June, and the most recent trip was in August. According to Samuel, he gives his commitment to TCU over Houston, Nebraska, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Tulane, and USC.

Samuel played in both Great American Shoot-Out Open Period events.