TCU coach Jamie Dixon had a lot to fret about after his Horned Frogs lost 65-46 at home to Houston on Jan. 6. But instead of fixating on the three Houston players who scored in double digits, or the Cougars’ 8-for-19 performance from three-point range, Dixon found himself muttering aloud about Joseph (JoJo) Tugler, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward who made one shot and scored three points. He did, however, have three blocks, two of which came rapid-fire on back-to-back possessions early in the second half, sparking a Cougars run and sending them to the easy win.
“We talked about not shooting on [Tugler],” Dixon said. “I wrote it all over the board [Sunday] night, [Monday] morning, this afternoon, at halftime and before the game and still the message didn’t get through. So, give them credit for forcing us to do what we didn’t want to do.”
Tugler does a lot of things for Houston, but taking credit is usually not one of them. He is the seventh-leading scorer (5.8 points per game) for a team that has won its second straight Big 12 title and all but wrapped up a No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament. The program is loaded with stars, not only versatile scoring threats like L.J. Cryer and J’Wan Roberts, but also a Hall of Fame-caliber coach in Kelvin Sampson.
Yet, there is one place where Tugler not only gets his fair share of credit, but is celebrated as a featured performer: Tugler is the captain of my 2025 All-Glue Team.
