Sure, these are the Bears with 13 regular-season Massive 12 titles and 11 match championships, and this system that had a 37-game profitable streak overlaying 35 years towards TCU earlier than going 0-3 towards the Frogs this season.
Whereas Van Lith is simply one of many “Big Three” for TCU alongside Sedona Prince and Madison Conner, she’s the lone newcomer. Positive, the primary season collectively for Prince and Conner was wrecked by accidents, however even these two agree there’s one thing a bit of totally different with Van Lith in cost as the first playmaker.
“I think she brings a lot of just fight to our team,” Conner stated. “She’s a dog on and off the court. I think that’s something that we kind of needed. We had a lot of good pieces and stuff, but you definitely need a dog on your team to kind of uplift everybody and just kind of make them compete at a higher level.”
The trail to Texas
Van Lith has recognized second-year TCU coach Mark Campbell since highschool, when he was recruiting her out of Cashmere Excessive College in Washington state as an assistant at Oregon.
She picked Louisville — a attainable second-round NCAA opponent — and spent three seasons there earlier than becoming a member of LSU the season after the Tigers gained the nationwide championship when the Closing 4 was in Dallas, about 30 miles from the TCU campus in Fort Value.
Van Lith’s lone season at LSU ended with an Elite Eight loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA title sport. She was attempting out for the U.S. Olympic 3-on-3 group whereas mulling another switch. After the TCU resolution was behind her, Van Lith helped the U.S. to a bronze medal in Paris.
“It was a chaotic time for me,” stated Van Lith, the one school males’s or ladies’s participant picked by Staff USA. “There’s a lot going on and for me to really feel like every day I wake up, something was telling me to pick up the phone and call (Campbell) like that. So, I can’t really explain what I think it was. Besides, you know, just divine intervention.”
The coach’s name
Van Lith stated Campbell’s solely mistake was calling her dad earlier than calling her, however she clearly forgave him. Corey Van Lith, who performed basketball on the College of Puget Sound within the household’s house state, instructed Campbell to remain near his cellphone for the subsequent 10 minutes.
As soon as that dialog occurred, Van Lith instructed Campbell she had been excited about TCU even earlier than he known as.
“Hailey is one of those kids that changes your whole program in every area,” Campbell stated. “She has no chill. She goes. She is the ultimate competitor in everything she does, in her grind and her preparation. We have a pro that’s still in college is what we have.”
A particular season
TCU’s 9-0 begin included 76-68 victory over then-No. 3 Notre Dame earlier than a humbling 85-52 loss to defending nationwide champion South Carolina in what was technically a neutral-site sport just a few miles from the TCU campus.
The one two Massive 12 losses have been to Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and the Frogs enter their first NCAA Event since 2010 on a 10-game profitable streak. Van Lith was named Massive 12 match MVP after scoring 20 factors in a 64-59 victory over Baylor for the title.
Whereas Van Lith and Conner mixed to make TCU some of the correct and prolific 3-point capturing groups within the nation, the spark plug with the braided pony tail was the one who had followers carrying Van Lith jerseys or carrying indicators together with her title ready for autographs after house video games close to the tunnel that results in the locker room.
“We needed a senior leader to join us and to come in and be another incredible piece, a scoring threat, it’s like no other,” Prince stated. “And she brings a lot of people into the stands, too. So, you know, she plays likable.”
What’s subsequent
Van Lith and Prince are probably headed to the WNBA, with that draft solely days after the season ends. That is it for Conner, too, so Campbell figures to want important assist in the switch portal to maintain the Frogs aggressive.
They’ll fear about these issues later, after the Frogs attempt to end off an ideal season at house, which might imply this system’s first journey to the Candy 16.
“I’m just forever grateful for Hailey in these nine months that we got to be together,” Campbell stated. “Man, I’d give my left arm to have another ride and do it again. But we’re going to max this out. We’ve got a lot of basketball still ahead of us.”
