Inside TCU women’s basketball best start in program history
Mark Campbell wasn’t shy about his ambition to turn TCU into a team that could contend in the Big 12 when he took over the women’s basketball program.
A month into his first season as coach, and Campbell has offered a glimpse of what the Horned Frogs could be this season and beyond.
After defeating Tulsa 82-50 on Friday night TCU is off to its best start in program history and has already matched the win total from last season.
The Horned Frogs’ hot start may come as a surprise to some, but Campbell envisioned this type of start when he started putting the roster together.
“Once we put the pieces together out of the portal and learned what we had in the portal, we thought we had a special group,” Campbell said. “We thought we had all the pieces that complimented each other both personality and skill set wise. This was the hope.”
You never know what a team will really look like when you bring in so many transfers and try to mesh them with returning players. Campbell signed a star-studded transfer class that included Sedona Prince (Oregon), Jaden Owens (Baylor), Madison Conner (Arizona), Uva Jovanovic (Cal-State Fullerton) and Agnes Emma-Nnopu (Stanford).
Despite all the new faces, Campbell says the team has meshed quickly since coming together in the off-season and it’s visible on the court.
“When you watch this team you can tell they enjoy each other,” Campbell said. “It’s evident with the way they play and share the ball and the way they compete together.”
Another thing that’s been evident about TCU’s prolific start is how productive the dynamic duo of Prince and Conner has become. Conner leads the team with 24.2 points per game while shooting an impressive 45% from 3. She netted a career-high in the win over the Golden Hurricane with 41 points and 10 3-pointers.
“I was glad I got to be courtside to watch that performance,” Campbell said.
Prince averages 20.6 points and 10.1 rebounds a night. She leads the country in double-doubles and has flourished in her final college season. If it wasn’t for her relationship with Campbell which goes back to Oregon, Prince says she wouldn’t be in this position.
“When you look at what we’ve done so far it’s been fun to help create this legacy we want to start here at TCU,” Prince said. “This is a new era for Mark and this program. It’s been pretty amazing for me to be apart of it and come back and play for him after he coached me at Oregon. It’s been a blessing.”
Why was Prince so eager to play for Campbell again when the 6-foot-7 post could’ve easily pursued a professional career? Because she trusted in his vision, his scheme and knew what type of culture he would be able to create.
“It’s a blast playing in his system, I love him,” Prince said. “I said multiple times before I wasn’t coming back to college basketball no matter what, but playing for Coach Campbell was the only reason. He’s the only coach I would’ve played for, this was the only program I would have played for. He has such an appreciation for culture.”
Talent is always key in college sports, but ultimately it’s culture that sets apart a good program from a great one. The type of culture Prince described is one that should continue to attract top flight players if TCU continues on its current trajectory.
“He has an appreciation for building a healthy environment and a healthy family,” Prince said. “You don’t see it a lot in the women’s college basketball world. Every practice everyone has a smile on their face. We have all these kids from different programs that had rough experiences or not playing much but then going through that adversity and the coming together (in Fort Worth) and we’re all playing for each other and falling in love with the game again.
“You see so many smiles in practice, we’re having fun and playing incredible basketball. We’ve got a bunch of hoopers.”
While Prince has been a double-double machine, it’s been Conner lighting defenses up from outside. She only averaged a little over five points and averaged about 13 minutes a night the last two seasons at Arizona.
Campbell always knew she could do more.
“She’s gone from a very small small role to one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball in the first seven games,” Campbell said. “Her shooting numbers are the same as Sabrina Ionescu, so her shooting is in a different stratosphere. Everybody knows she’s a good shooter, Madison’s a prolific scorer and there’s a big difference between the two.”
Ionescu played under Campbell at Oregon and eventually became the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. Anytime you draw comparisons to a two-time all-star you know you’re doing something right.
Prince credits Conner and her teammates for also allowing her to play the best stretch of basketball in her career.
“Jaden is the best facilitator in the country, Madison is the best shooter in the country,” Prince said. “Agnes is the best offensive rebounder, she is just a dog. And then we have Una and a really solid bench. We have so many threats it’s really hard to guard.”
Early results
You know what makes building a championship culture easier? Winning an actual championship.
The Horned Frogs were able to achieve that over the Thanksgiving Holiday as TCU defeated Nebraska 88-81 in the championship game of the St. Pete’s Showcase in Florida.
It was a significant achievement for such a new group and it was also the Horned Frogs’ first game against a Power Five opponent. For the program to be able to pass that early test, it only served as fuel for TCU’s confidence.
“It was huge,” Campbell said. “All these things we’re doing are firsts right? For this group this is their first championship. We keep checking these boxes and giving these kids evidence that what we’re doing is working and that they can be elite, that they can win at a high level and each one of these things are little stepping stones on this journey. We’re the only team in the country starting five portal kids.”
Prince was named tournament MVP with 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. She shined when it mattered with 17 in the second of the decisive championship game.
It was also a breakout game for Emma-Nnopu who knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 26 points. The Stanford player also made the All-Tournament team.
Echoing what Campbell said, Prince said that title gave a big confidence boost to the locker room.
“This team hadn’t accomplished anything until that together,” Prince said. “We won games, but just having that under our belt, it’s a trophy. It’s something to look back and say we fought through this even though we’re a group of girls that just started playing together. It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.”
Other people are taking notice of what TCU is doing as well as the Horned Frogs landed another significant transfer in Miami guard Haley Cavinder, who committed to the program in mid-November.
Cavinder has one of the biggest social media platforms in college basketball with 767,000 Instagram followers and her page with her twin sister has over four millions TikTok followers.
While she may be known for her viral posts on social media, Campbell made sure to point out that she’s an upper echelon player on the court.
“She was the most talented player in the country and could’ve gone anywhere,” Campbell said. “She’s the second biggest influencer in college basketball which brings a huge spotlight to our program. She has such a massive social media following, it’s easy to lose sight of how good she is as a basketball player.
“She led Miami in scoring, assists and minutes on an Elite Eight team. She was second team All-ACC, so now you’re getting a great competitor and an elite playmaker that fits our pick and roll system.”
In less than a year on the job Campbell has acquired big-time players from Oregon, Baylor, Arizona and now Miami. He’s led the Horned Frogs to the best start in decades and with a manageable December schedule, it’s not out of the question for TCU to enter conference play 13-0.
There’s more work to be done, especially when Big 12 play begins, but the early returns on Campbell show that the first-year coach is already making huge strides in transforming TCU into one of the league’s premiere programs.
He’s just getting started.
