Mark Campbell calls for Hailey Van Lith's jersey to be retired at TCU: 'If it's up to me, yes'

It’s not about how much time you spend with a person, but the impact they make while they’re here. Mark Campbell recognizes that, after his lone season at TCU came to an end with Hailey Van Lith leading the charge on Monday evening in the Elite Eight.

Van Lith transferred to spend her fifth and final season of college basketball with the Horned Frogs ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. All she did was average 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, while becoming the leader of a historic team for the program. That’s not lost on Campbell, and it’s something he’s going to cherish moving forward as they continue to build. 

While she only spent a short amount of her collegiate career with TCU, after three seasons with Louisville and one with LSU, the question as to whether Van Lith should have her number retired by the Horned Frogs has come up. After their loss to Texas in the Elite Eight, Campbell answered it the best way he could, explaining why he would put her name and number in the rafters if he was the sole decision maker on the matter. 

“It’s hard for me to answer that. I don’t know the criteria in regards to getting your jersey hung at TCU, but I have a hard time believing that anybody in any sport in one year can have a greater impact than what Hailey Van Lith has had at TCU,” Campbell stated, via his postgame press conference. “Obviously, there’s the basketball piece and a single-season scoring record, a single-season assist record, and [she] was the leader of this group that won 34 games and took us to an Elite Eight. So, if it’s up to me, yes. No question. But, again, I’m not the one that makes those decisions.”

It’s easy to see why Campbell believes Van Lith should be remembered fondly at TCU. It’s evident it wasn’t a one-way street either. The Horned Frogs star waxed poetic about her coach as well, explaining how she grew as a person and a player over the 2024-25 season. 

“It is hard for me to put into words, but my relationship with Coach Mark has been just a joy for me,” Van Lith added. “I’m sure I gave him a lot of headaches throughout the year, but you know, he just accepted me for who I was. He took me at face value. He thanked me for coming to the program. But he took a risk on me. He met me with full belief, and he had a vision of who he thought I could be. At the beginning, he probably was convincing me that I could be that person. I wasn’t necessarily in a place where I even knew who I was anymore. So, he has just breathed life into me. 

“From a life perspective, he’s taught me a lot of great lessons about. How to have healthy relationships, and what it takes to have a healthy relationship, and how much better life can be if you just let people see who you are, and that’s hard for me. So, for me to feel comfortable and safe doing that with him, that took a lot of work on his part that he did not have to do. He could have told me to screw off when I was giving him problems. So I’m forever grateful for him. 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 will be around for the rest of my life. So, that’s the best part about this year.”

All told, Hailey Van Lith made an undeniable impact on TCU over the course of the 2024-25 season. She helped set Mark Campbell’s Horned Frogs up for sustained success, and it’s evident the star guard will always be remembered in high-regard by the program. The foundation for the future has been laid, and we’ll see how high TCU can fly moving forward.