The latest Horned Frog alum to be honored with a mural to celebrate TCU’s 150th anniversary will feature NBA player Desmond Bane ’20.
Besides being a guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, Bane is also known as an enthusiastic youth advocate, an endeavor he credits to TCU. Today, he participates in basketball camps, backpack drives, and other opportunities using his platform as a professional athlete to inspire and motivate kids, according to a release.
“I chose youth advocacy as a major because of my love for my community and my love for kids who are in the same position that I was in growing up,” Bane says, who was raised in Richmond, Indiana, with a population of around 30,000. “I didn’t get a chance to see too many people playing Division I basketball, playing in the NBA, and doing successful things outside of high school. I wanted to be that light and guidance for them — something that I wish that I had when I was growing up — to help them reach their dreams and goals.”
The star athlete says he also credits TCU’s coaching staff and his TCU College of Education professors for providing him with a “home away from home.”
“My support system had everything to do with my success, and it still does,” Bane says. “It keeps me anchored along this journey. TCU is a close-knit family, like the one I came from. Without TCU, I wouldn’t be the man that I am today. To be recognized by my alma mater and to leave my mark means the world to me.”
The mural featuring Bane is 20 feet high and 45 feet wide and is located at 1616 N. Broadway in Nashville. It features a photo-realistic portrait of Bane and one of his inspiring quotes: “No one achieves their dream alone.”
“Desmond represents the character and tenacity of all Horned Frogs who are empowered to lead on—in his case both on and off the basketball court, and in his personal and professional life,” says TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini. “For 150 years, TCU has developed students like Desmond, helping to shape them into leaders of action who have an outsized impact across our communities.”
Bane’s larger-than-life portrait in Nashville is the third mural in the TCU series. The first two murals were unveiled in New York City and Los Angeles and spotlighted alumnus John Devereaux ’12 of “Hamilton” and alumna Katherine Beattie ’08, a producer/writer for “NCIS” and wheelchair athlete. Other mural subjects and locations will be announced soon, with the final mural debuting in Fort Worth in fall 2023.
