Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach | Sixth Season
Raegan Pebley is in her ninth season as TCU women's basketball head coach in 2022-23. Pebley led the Horned Frogs to four postseason appearances in her first five seasons, including WNIT Semifinals appearances in both 2017-18 and 2018-19. The 2019-20 squad was on the way to making a postseason appearance prior to the NCAA Tournament being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| THE RAEGAN PEBLEY FILE | |
| Hometown | Orem, Utah |
| Education | Colorado • bachelor's degree |
| Family | Husband: Keith Son: Joseph Daughter: Harper |
| COACHING EXPERIENCE | |
| Season | School, Position |
| 2014-present | TCU, head coach |
| 2012-14 | Fresno State, head coach |
| 2003-12 | Utah State, head coach |
| 1999-01 | Colorado State, assistant coach |
| 1997-99 | George Mason, assistant coach |
| PLAYING EXPERIENCE | |
| Season | School/Team |
| 1998 | Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) |
| 1997 | Utah Starzz (WNBA) |
| 1994-97 | Colorado |
Pebley (pronounced Pee-blee) continues to lead the Frogs in an upward trend, as their 85 total wins over the past five years are ranked fifth-most among all Big 12 teams. Pebley will head into the 2022-23 season having led TCU to an overall record of 133-115 in her eight seasons in Fort Worth, while taking a combined record of 289-290 into her 20th season as a head coach.
The Horned Frogs went 10-15 overall and 4-14 in Big 12 play in what was seen as an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. The regular season not only started a full month later than normal, but the non-conference slate was scaled down to just six scheduled games - five to six contests short of a normal schedule. The Frogs would end up only playing five non-conference games, as its lone non-conference road game at Missouri was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. TCU would win all five non-conference home games though, thus extending its home winning streak against non-con foes to 29 straight games.
TCU's Lauren Heard would go onto earn postseason honors, being named All-Big 12 First Team and to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Heard became the first Horned Frog to earn back-to-back all-conference first team honors since Zahna Medley was tabbed first team for three consecutive seasons from 2014-16.
In 2021-22, Heard would also be named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, making her the first player since Medley to earn All-Big 12 honors in four consecutive seasons.
The 2019-20 campaign saw the Frogs register a 22-7 overall record and a 13-5 mark in Big 12 play. It marked Pebley's third-consecutive 20-win season, while the 13 Big 12 wins rank most in school history. It also matches the most conference wins for TCU in any league (2000-01, WAC; 2007-08 and 2010-11, MWC). TCU would go onto finish second-place in the Big 12 standings - the highest finish for the Frogs since joining the league in 2012-13.
TCU registered a 24-11 record in 2018-19, coming up just one-win shy of the school's single-season record of 25 victories (2000-01, 2003-04). TCU would, however, set a new program record with 17 home victories in 2018-19. The 2019-20 campaign saw TCU set a new program record with 13 Big 12 Conference victories. The Horned Frogs also managed to register its most road wins in the Pebley era, notching nine victories on the road in 2019-20.
TCU collected its first national ranking in 10 years during the 2017-18 campaign, as well, coming in as high as No. 22. The Frogs then made its way back into the WBCA Top-25 rankings during the 2019-20 season, coming in at No. 25, the week of Feb. 25.
TCU ranked among the Big 12's top teams in 2019-20, ranking first in free throw attempts (621), third in free throws made (417), second in steals (274), first in steals per game (9.4), second in opponent three-point percentage (.273), and first in forced turnovers (18.62). Three different Horned Frogs would go onto earn All-Big 12 honors, giving TCU at least two players on the All-Big 12 team in four of its first six seasons as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
Heard became what was then just the third Horned Frog in program history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team, joining Medley (2014, 2015, 2016) and Jordan Moore (2019). Kianna Ray would earn second team honors and Jayde Woods was named honorable mention. TCU has had a total of 17 All-Big 12 performers over the past seven seasons under Pebley, including six first team accolades, three second team honors and eight honorable mention selections.
The 2019-20 campaign also saw Pebley record her 100th victory on the sidelines at TCU. She is just the second coach in school history to boast at least 100 victories at the helm of the Horned Frogs basketball program.
The Frogs went on a tear in the postseason for a second-consecutive year in 2018-19, winning four games in the WNIT before falling on the road to eventual champion Arizona in the semifinals. Pebley's squad dominated the early rounds of the tournament, winning its first four games by an average of 17 points, including three victories at home and an impressive road win at Arkansas.
TCU finished among the top-three teams in the Big 12 in several statistical categories in 2018-19, including scoring defense, blocked shots, assists, turnover margin and steals. The Frogs finished eighth in the NCAA in both total blocked shots (189) and blocked shots per game (5.4) and led the Big 12 in total steals (331), steals per game (9.5) and turnovers forced per game (17.34).
The 2018-19 season was a continuation of a successful climb for TCU under Pebley. The Frogs won 18 games in each of her first two seasons with a WNIT Second Round appearance in 2014-15 followed by appearances in the WNIT Third Round and Semifinals in 2015-16 and 2017-18, respectively. TCU's WNIT victory in 2015 was its first postseason win in seven years.
During the 2017-18 campaign, the Frogs earned their first national ranking since 2010, claiming a spot in the top-25 for three weeks. The ranking came in the midst of a seven-game Big 12 winning streak, the Frogs' best conference winning streak since 2008. During the streak, the Frogs beat No. 7 Texas then knocked off No. 15 West Virginia on the road, marking just the second time in program history TCU won back-to-back games against ranked teams.
The Frogs went on to finish 9-9 in the Big 12 in 2017-18, capping the regular season with a win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal and advancing to the first semifinal since the Frogs joined the Big 12.
TCU then played in its third WNIT under Pebley and made a deep run in the tournament, advancing to the semifinal where the Frogs fell on the road to eventual champion Indiana. Along the way, TCU won four games in the tournament, including a pair of road wins, pushing TCU's total to 10 wins away from home in 2017-18, the program's most since 2004-05.
In 2017-18, TCU was the only Big 12 team to finish in the Big 12's top three in field goal, 3-point and free throw percentage. The Frogs averaged 74.8 points and 16.5 assists per game, both the second best in program history, and posted a program-best 1.1 assist-turnover ratio.
Individually, numerous players have flourished in Pebley's system, perhaps none more than TCU's all-time leading scorer, Medley who earned three All-Big 12 First Team honors in her career - two under Pebley - and was the first three-time all-conference first team selection in program history.
Medley finished her career with TCU bests of 1,975 career points, a 15.6 points per game scoring average and 316 made 3-pointers. She finished second in TCU history with 633 made field goals and 510 assists.
Moore's progression throughout her TCU career is indicative of Pebley's teaching ability. The Round Rock, Texas, native finished her career as TCU's all-time leader in field goal percentage, shooting 54.7 percent in her four years in Fort Worth, as well as the single-season leader after shooting 59.0 percent in her senior campaign. She also finished seventh in the TCU record book with 1,514 points, second with 892 rebounds and third with 243 blocks.
Additionally, the Frogs have won both of their Big 12 individual awards under Pebley, most recently with Okonkwo earning the Sixth Man Award in 2017-18. Chelsea Prince was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2014-15, marking the fourth-straight such selection under Pebley.
Off the court, the Frogs have seen incredible success under Pebley. In her seven seasons, TCU student-athletes have earned 31 Academic All-Big 12 honors, that after earning just four in the two years prior to Pebley's arrival.
Included in the 31 selections is a record four first-team selections in 2019-20. Jada Butts was one of the 2016-17 first team selections and became the first Frog to earn Academic All-Big 12 honors in four straight years, while Ray followed in her footsteps, taking home all-academic honors from 2016-20.
Pebley has not only served TCU, but also the women's basketball community as a whole. She is a member of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund Board of Directors, helping guide the Fund's mission to extend and improve the lives of all women battling cancer by raising money for research and assisting the underserved.
She is also a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Board of Directors, helping the Association's mission to improve and advance the game of women's basketball.
TCU officially announced the hiring of Pebley as the program's seventh head coach on April 1, 2014.
Pebley arrived at TCU after spending the previous two seasons at Fresno State where she led the Bulldogs to Mountain West tournament titles and berths into the NCAA Tournament in each of her two seasons. Fresno State compiled a 46-20 (.697) overall record under the direction of Pebley, including a 26-8 (.765) mark in league play, while four Bulldogs earned All-Mountain West honors, including back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year selections.
Pebley's Fresno State squads featured one of the top defensive units in the country, as the 2012-13 Bulldogs ranked third in the NCAA in steals with 12.9 per game, doing so while only fouling 12.1 times per game to rank No. 7 nationally for the fewest fouls committed per game. The Bulldogs allowed a paltry 62.4 points per contest in the two seasons under Pebley.
The Orem, Utah, native faced a tall task in her first head coaching position, starting the Utah State women's basketball program after its reinstatement in 2003 following a 25-year hiatus. Pebley led the Aggies for nine seasons, building the program from scratch into back-to-back WNIT berths, marking the first postseason appearances in school history.
Pebley garnered WAC Coach of the Year accolades for the 2010-11 season after the Aggies advanced to their first WNIT, where they toppled Arizona, and was a WBCA National Coach of the Year finalist in 2012 after Utah State registered its first-ever 20-win season and returned to the WNIT.
In her nine seasons at Utah State, 12 Aggies earned all-conference honors, including Ashlee Brown, who was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, the first of four straight student-athletes to earn the league's top defensive awards under Pebley. Before taking over the Utah State program, Pebley served as an assistant coach at George Mason from 1997-99 under Jim Lewis and Debbie Taneyhill and at Colorado State from 1999-01 under Tom Collen.
At CSU, the Rams went 48-17 in her two seasons with the team reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and the semifinals of the WNIT in 2000.
A standout at the University of Colorado, Pebley was selected with the 21st overall pick of the inaugural WNBA Draft in 1997, where she played two seasons with the Cleveland Rockers and Utah Starzz. She has since returned to a role within the league as she regularly serves as the color analyst on television broadcasts for the Dallas Wings.
During her collegiate career at Colorado, Pebley helped lead the Buffs to a 106-24 overall record and four conference championships, including winning the inaugural Big 12 tournament title in 1997. In her career, Pebley earned all-conference accolades twice, including a second team All-Big 12 selection in 1997. She is the first former All-Big 12 selection to return to coach in the league.
CU made two Sweet 16 appearances during her career, including a trip to the Elite Eight during her sophomore season, as the Buffs won a school-record 30 games (30-3 overall). Colorado won 25-straight games that season and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll.
Pebley, whose maiden name is Scott, was one of nine players in CU history to score over 1,000 career points (1,045) and collect over 700 rebounds (701). Pebley played under legendary head coach Ceal Barry who was a 2018 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Pebley family is made up of Raegan, Keith, Se'Myris, Joseph and Harper.
