TCU’s innovative hiring of Desmond Bane provides a blueprint for the Mustangs to reunite with Semi Ojeleye, leveraging the former star's NBA experience to mentor ACC talent.
TCU brought one of the faces of its modern basketball history back to Fort Worth this summer.
SMU has one of its own worth calling.
Desmond Bane became the Horned Frogs' first Chief Basketball Officer in June, accepting a volunteer role that allows the current Orlando Magic guard to advise Jamie Dixon's program while continuing his NBA career.
Player mentorship. Career guidance. Player development. An NBA liaison. It's an unconventional job description.
But perhaps TCU's idea doesn't have to remain unique to Fort Worth.
How about former Mustang Semi Ojeleye?
Ojeleye only spent one season actually playing for SMU, but there aren't many players more closely associated with one of the best stretches of modern Mustangs basketball.
The Duke transfer averaged 19 points and 6.9 rebounds during the 2016-17 season, earned AAC Player of the Year honors and helped SMU finish 30-5 while sweeping the conference's regular-season and tournament championships.
Then came the NBA.
Boston selected Ojeleye with the No. 37 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, beginning a professional career that has included stops in the NBA and overseas.
But here's the part that makes him particularly interesting for this idea.
Ojeleye has already made his feelings about SMU pretty clear.
"It still feels like home," Ojeleye said when he returned to campus during his rookie NBA season. "I love those guys. Whenever I get a chance, I'll be back."
Well, how about now?
SMU finds itself in a considerably different place than the program Ojeleye left nearly a decade ago.
The Mustangs are members of the ACC, Andy Enfield has led them to consecutive 20-win seasons and 2025-26 produced their first NCAA Tournament appearance since — fittingly enough — Ojeleye's 2016-17 team.
There's also a new professional bridge beginning to form.
Jaron Pierre Jr. became SMU's first NBA Draft selection since Shake Milton in 2018 when the New Orleans Pelicans selected him No. 58 overall this summer.
That's where a Bane-type position becomes interesting.
Ojeleye has experienced plenty of the transitions a current Mustang could eventually face. He transferred from Duke, became a star at SMU, entered the NBA as a second-round pick and eventually continued his professional career overseas.
Those experiences don't require him to become a coach to become useful.
Maybe it's mentorship. Maybe it's professional guidance. Maybe it's helping players understand what comes after the Hilltop.
TCU found a way to reconnect one of its most accomplished modern players to the program without asking him to put on a headset or sit on the bench.
SMU doesn't have to copy the title.
But Ojeleye already said he'd be back ... perhaps Enfield should steal the idea.
