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Hailey Van Lith Reveals 'Best Part' of TCU Season After NCAA Tournament Elimination

TCU Horned Frogs star Hailey Van Lith shared a powerful message about her relationship with her head coach Mark Campbell after losing in the NCAA Tournament.
Grant Young|
Oct 22, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Hailey Van Lith (10) talks to media during Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Oct 22, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Hailey Van Lith (10) talks to media during Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The TCU Horned Frogs women's basketball team's season came to a close on Monday as they were defeated by the Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

This marks the end of TCU star guard Hailey Van Lith's college career, capping off what was a truly incredible season (for several reasons) with the Horned Frogs. After the game, a video of Van Lith hugging TCU head coach Mark Campbell went viral on X, as the mutual respect and adoration between them was made extremely apparent.

Van Lith delivered a powerful message about her head coach when speaking with the media after Monday's defeat.

"My relationship with Coach Mark has been just a joy for me. I'm sure I gave him a lot of headaches throughout the year. But he just accepted me for who I was, he took me at face value, and he thanks me for coming to the program, but he took a risk on me," Van Lith said.

"He has just breathed life into me, and from a life perspective, he has taught me a lot of great lessons about how to make healthy relationships... and how much better life can be if you just let people see who you are. And that's hard for me," Van Lith added. "I'm forever grateful for him, and God put him in my life to transform it. And he certainly has done that.

"I can't wait to be a TCU alum, I can't wait to come back and give back to this program, and continue having my relationship with Coach. I think he'll be around for the rest of my life. So that's the best part of this year," Van Lith concluded.

It's truly awesome to see how much growth Van Lith has experienced during this season at TCU, both on and off the court.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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