Hailey Van Lith has been a revelation for the TCU Horned Frogs this season, leading the team in scoring and being named the Big 12 Player of the Year. She has guided TCU to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 and a No. 2 seed in the Birmingham Regional.
The Horned Frogs will face No. 15-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round on Friday, but much of the attention has already shifted to a potential second-round matchup against Van Lith's former team, the Louisville Cardinals.
On Sunday, the 5-foot-9 senior joined ESPN's Selection Day Special with her coach Mark Campbell, following TCU's bracket reveal. When asked if she would relish the chance to play against her old team, Hailey Van Lith said:
"I think that I am excited to play a first-round game at home and after that, the one thing about me is I'm going to play. It could be a 16-seed, it could be a one-seed, and I'm going to bring the same energy and the same passion and be the same type of player. So no matter who it is on the other side, you're going to get the same Hailey." [11:46]
Van Lith spent the first three years of her college career with Louisville, guiding the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2022 before deciding to transfer to LSU. She played a season with the Tigers before landing at TCU last offseason.
Mark Campbell applauds Hailey Van Lith's decision to join TCU
After a subpar season with LSU, where she averaged 11.6 points per game, Hailey Van Lith sought a new challenge. This is how TCU came in, with coach Mark Campbell glad to have her on board as a talented guard.
"Hailey is someone I've known since she was about 15 years old and got to know her and her family," Campbell said in the same interview with ESPN. "Haley took a huge leap of faith to come here for last season, and what she's been able to do and accomplish for our school and program is just incredible." [9:41]
Averaging 17.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game for the Horned Frogs, Van Lith has been the driving force that thrust them onto the national stage, winning both Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.
The last time TCU won a conference championship was in 2010, when they were still in the Mountain West Conference.
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