Known for her fierce competitiveness and guarded demeanor, Hailey Van Lith let her walls crumble as she clung to Campbell. But her journey to this viral moment began long before she donned a TCU jersey. So, this wasn’t your typical post-game hug.

Just moments earlier, the 23-year-old had poured in 17 points against Texas, leading her team in scoring despite the loss. But as the final buzzer sounded, the stat sheet no longer mattered. The scoreboard read 58-47 in favor of the Longhorns, yet Van Lith wasn’t thinking about the numbers—wins or losses. Even TCU’s Cinderella run, with its 28 victories, Big 12 regular season title, and first Elite Eight appearance in over a decade, felt distant. In that moment, all that remained was the weight of the journey and the coach who had stood by her through it all.

A high school sensation from Wenatchee, Washington, Van Lith burst onto the college scene at Louisville, where she averaged 19.7 points per game as a sophomore and led the Cardinals to the 2022 Final Four. But after three seasons, she took a leap and transferred to LSU- a powerhouse fresh off a national championship. However, there, everything changed. Her role shrank, her scoring that dipped to 11.6 points per game, and a viral moment guarding Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in the 2024 Elite Eight painted her as a scapegoat for LSU’s exit. Criticism rained down, and Van Lith later admitted it shook her to her core.

Enter Mark Campbell. When Van Lith hit the transfer portal again in 2024, Campbell, in his second year at TCU, saw not just a player but a person needing a fresh start. And his pitch didn’t require much convincing. “I knew him when I was in high school,” Van Lith said in February last year. “He was my recruiter to Oregon when he was coaching at Oregon. I knew what system he ran, I knew what type of people he had on his team, character and basketball skills.” That familiarity drew her to Fort Worth, but it was Campbell’s support and belief that kept her there.

So, now, as she looks to turn the page over her basketball career, HVL’s emotions spilled over as she thanked Coach Mark Campbell, who hugged his star guard after her final collegiate game.

“I mean, yeah it is hard for me to put into words, but um 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 um you know, he just accepted me for who I was,” she said.

The 23-year-old was on the verge of tears as she continued to praise the Horned Frogs HC. “But like he took a risk on me um and he met me with full belief, and he had a vision of who he thought I could be. And 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 what who I was anymore. So he has just breathed life into me…”

Campbell, for his part, saw Van Lith’s potential beyond the court. “She came in with a wall,” he admitted—but worked tirelessly to peel them back. “To peel back the layers and really get to know ’em, it’s hard to do,” Campbell explained. “She opened up and became vulnerable.”

That grit shone through in TCU’s season. Van Lith averaged 17.8 points and 5.3 assists per game, earning Big 12 Player of the Year honors and leading the Horned Frogs to a 31-3 record. Her standout moment came against NC State, when she notched her first career double-double, collapsing into Campbell’s arms in tears of joy afterward. “Those were tears of joy,” Campbell later told Hoops HQ. “That is a young person who is happy and comfortable in the environment she’s in.”

So, thanks to Coach Campbell, who not only coached her to success, but also coached her to herself. As she prepares for the WNBA Draft—projected as a first-round pick—Van Lith carries more than skills. “I can’t wait to be a TCU alum,” she said post-Texas.

Hailey Van Lith’s struggles turned into a success story

The 5-foot-7 guard has been vocal about her mental health struggles and has credited faith, teammates, and the coaching staff for a smoother transition from LSU to TCU. “I really praise God for the struggle and the suffering.” Hailey Van Lith continued, “I praise Him for the nights that I was on medication because I couldn’t sleep or eat. And it’s painful to talk about it but it’s really how beautiful life is.”

Coach Campbell was proud of how HVL dealt with her struggles. He also credited her for being vulnerable and letting him in on her journey, which made all the difference. “Her allowing me to go on that journey with her and walk through her struggles that she has had is one of the reasons the season that she had has unfolded.” For the Horned Frogs, she set single-season scoring and single-season assist records. Plus, the senior guard was the leader of the group that won 34 games and took them to the Elite 8. Mind you, all this in just one season!

And as she leaves, Coach Campbell is convinced that no one in one sport, in one year, can have a greater impact than Van Lith has had at TCU. He knows and acknowledged that not many can go through what she did and yet keep fighting, keep grinding. That’s true. Listening to her talk about her struggles, it is not hard to imagine the work she must have had to put in tirelessly to reach where she is. “The day that I got exposed to the media and social media at such a young age, I really struggled with mental health,” she had revealed after TCU’s second-round win over Louisville. “When I was younger in college.. I felt trapped“.

Now, just look at her! During March Madness, she scored a 16-point, 10-assist game against Louisville in the second round, her second career double-double. In her next game, she scored 26 points and had nine rebounds in a Sweet 16 win over Notre Dame. Even in the Elite 8 encounter, she scored a buzzer-beater at halftime to reduce the lead to 2 points. We don’t think any doubters are still left.