The No. 22 TCU Horned Frogs are just over 24 hours away from starting their Big 12 Tournament run against No. 12 Kansas State. But they’ll have to go into the T-Mobile Center without one of their biggest stars.
According to Frogs Today and Steven Johnson, TCU center Eddie Lampkin Jr. has stepped away from the team to deal with “personal matters.”
Per the report, he did not travel with the team to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament, which starts today and runs through Saturday.
The sophomore center started 19 of 24 games this past season, averaging 6.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He led the Horned Frogs in rebounds nine times this season and led them in points in a November win over Providence.
BREAKING: #TCU center Eddie Lampkin Jr. has stepped away from the team to deal with personal matters.
He did not travel with the team to Kansas City, where the Big 12 tournament is taking place beginning Wednesday. https://t.co/9YRGZleRzU
— Frogs Today (@frogstoday) March 8, 2023
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Can confirm report Eddie Lampkin is not with the team in Kansas City.
Still too early to say what that means for his standing on the team going forward per source.
— S. Johnson (@StevenMJohnson_) March 8, 2023
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The TCU Horned Frogs have not made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years since the 1950s. But after going 20-11 in the regular season and heading into the Big 12 Tournament as a ranked team, they seem destined to be a part of March Madness for the second year in a row.
Last year TCU entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed in the South and crushed Seton Hall in the First Round before losing to No. 2 Arizona in during the Second Round.
If TCU want to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1960s, they’re going to need all hands on deck.
We can only hope that Eddie Lampkin Jr. can contribute two of those hands if he’s available.