Mark Campbell reveals how TCU women's basketball made most of transfer portal

The TCU Horned Frogs have quietly undergone a miraculous turnaround over the past two seasons. Since head coach Mark Campbell took over, he’s led the team to a 53-15 record overall after failing to win more than 10 games in any of the previous three seasons. Now, the Horned Frogs are in the Elite Eight.

A major reason why TCU was able to make the Elite Eight was how Campbell has approached using the Transfer Portal. That includes several star players, like Hailey Van Lith. It’s an approach that has led to success for TCU that Campbell is very proud of today.

“Great question,” Mark Campbell said. “It really is. Part of it was necessity. Like when we took over the 1-17 team, the portal allows you to get old really quickly. It allows you to get talent really quickly, but a lot of people try it and it doesn’t work.”

Campbell took over at TCU in 2023 after previously being the head coach at Sacramento State. He inherited a team that went 8-23 overall and 1-17 in Big 12 play for the 2022-23 season. The very next season, he took the Horned Frogs to a 21-12 record overall and the WBIT. Now, in his second season, he has TCU in the Elite Eight.

On TCU’s current roster, 10 players have played at a different school before coming to TCU. That includes the team’s most important players, like Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince. It allowed, in turn, to flip the roster more quickly and meant Campbell didn’t have to take a longer approach with all high school prospects and pure development.

“I want to give a lot of credit to my staff. We value our culture. We value getting the right personalities, egos, alphas. As you put together a team, you have your basketball piece and your style of play — you’ve got to get that piece right,” Campbell said. “And I think that’s what most people spend their time on. But you’ve got to get the locker room right. You’ve got to get the people part right. So we have worked incredibly hard to vet and try to get the right pieces. We have passed on really talented players that don’t quite fit. And you need a little luck in there, too, to get things right, and we have.”

This season, TCU went 34-3 overall and 16-2 in Big 12 play. That’s 26 wins better than the team that Campbell inherited. Along the way, in the NCAA Tournament, TCU has added wins against Fairleigh Dickinson, Louisville, and Notre Dame.

“We did six portal kids last year,” Campbell said. “Six this year and we’ve signed 12 portal kids to go from 1-17 to an Elite Eight team.”

Now, TCU is set to take on Texas in the Elite Eight. That game is scheduled for Monday, March 31st at 6:00 p.m. EST with a Final Four berth on the line.