“If you don’t [adjust], you’ll be running,” forward Amric Fields said. “It didn’t take very long. We had the summer to work together too. So when we found out what he asked from us, we just kind of did it.”

Johnson brings a different type of intensity than former head coach Jim Christian and gives the team more structure and organization, Fields said.

The team is still learning from the coaching staff and “buying in” to everything they teach the team, guard Kyan Anderson said.

The team spent a lot of time getting stronger and faster for the upcoming season under the new staff, Anderson said.

“We didn’t like it early, but it’s what we needed,” he said. “I told the guys just buy in for now. Let’s just go with it. I mean, these are coaches that know what they’re talking about.”

Transfer forward Devonta Abron said the coaches have pushed him to get the gym early and take his game to the next level. 

Abron, who spent last season playing SEC basketball at Arkansas, said he brings a “bulldog mentality” to a TCU team entering its first year in the Big 12.

“[A bulldog mentality is] Just being tough going after every ball and not letting nobody go up easy,” he said “They go up, they’re not gonna make it.”

Fields and Anderson both said they're excited for the opportunity to play in a conference they grew up watching. 

“This is what everybody dreams of playing, this kind of atmosphere, these kinds of teams,” Anderson said. “We gotta be ready. We gotta be ready for opportunity.”

The Frogs will face six NCAA tournament teams from last year in the Big 12, including national runner-up and defending Big 12 champion, Kansas. 

Last year, the Frogs faced four tournament teams in the Mountain West and finished with an 18-15 overall record. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to a NCAA tournament team in Colorado State.

“Every year I feel like it’s a fresh start,” Fields said. “It doesn’t matter what your record was last year. Going into the next year it’s a fresh start. Anything can happen.”