‘Old' Frogs have TCU women in NCAA Sweet 16 after roster was rebuilt with experienced transfers
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — These old Frogs have taken TCU deeper than it has ever been in March Madness.
TCU's roster has been rebuilt through the transfer portal since Mark Campbell became their coach two years ago, when the Horned Frogs were coming off a 1-17 record in Big 12 play.
Now with 11 transfers, eight of them who had previous NCAA Tournament experience, they are in the Sweet 16 for the first time after sweeping the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament titles, then winning their first two NCAA games as a host team.
'Because of their maturity, age, understanding the magnitude of what's in front of us, how I get to coach them, how our staff gets to communicate with them, it's almost like you're coaching a pro team in how you manage them, which is just a blast,' Campbell said. 'I think they're one of a kind, and they are the oldest team in the country.'
Campbell said he is apt to crack a few jokes at halftime with his players. He usually makes fun of their age.
There are no freshman Frogs. The players for TCU (33-3) have an average age of 22 1/2 years old — a full year older than Oklahoma, the nation's next-oldest power conference team, and also still playing. Half of TCU's 14 players were at least that old going into the NCAA tourney.
Sedona Prince, whose college career began with Oregon during the 2019-20 season, is the oldest Frog — she turns 25 on May 12, four days after Agnes Emma-Nnopu's 24th birthday. Emma-Nnopu was on Stanford's 2021 national championship team as a freshman, then went to another Final Four with Cardinal.
'We all came here for this reason. We all wanted to build a program and get to this point, obviously see how far we could take it thing,' said Madison Conner, a 21-year-old senior guard in her second season in Fort Worth after transferring from Arizona. 'The experience we have on the roster will help us.'
The second-seeded Frogs play third-seeded Notre Dame (28-5) on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama. TCU won 76-68 when the teams played in the Cayman Islands on Nov. 29. Oklahoma (27-7) plays UConn on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.
Oklahoma players have an average age of 21 1/2 years old, with five players being older than TCU's average of 22 1/12.
One big difference between those two old rosters is that the Sooners returned 98% of their scoring from last season's Big 12 championship team, including all five starters and six other letterwinners who were part of the team's move into the Southeastern Conference this season.
TCU's starting lineup now has graduate transfer Hailey Van Lith, who is about to play in her fifth consecutive Sweet 16, and sophomore guard Donovyn Hunter, who scored 11 points for Oregon State when the Beavers beat Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 last March. Prince, Conner and Emma-Nnopu were returning starters.
The 23-year-old Van Lith is TCU's leading scorer at 17.6 points a game, and was both the Big 12 player and newcomer of the year. She went to a Final Four and two Elite Eight games in three seasons with Louisville before going to another Elite Eight last season with LSU.
At 20, Hunter is one of only two TCU players under 21. The other is 19-year-old Ella Hamlin, who was added to the roster in the middle of last season after open tryouts on campus during a stretch when the Frogs had to forfeit two Big 12 games after a series of injuries, including to Prince and Conner. Hamlin has played in only briefly in 11 games this season.
'It's cool to come into a program and see the beginnings point of it, talking to Mark and seeing the vision he had for the team and all of us transfers that came in and trusted his process and the plan that he had for us,' Hunter said. 'I think he took a huge risk on us, and we took a risk on this program, not necessarily knowing what was going to come out of it. ... But I'm not surprised at all that we're breaking all these record points in history. It's all a testament to, really, just the team.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.'
Fox Sports
44 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
Associated Press WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.' ___ AP college basketball: recommended in this topic
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. Advertisement 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." Advertisement The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. Advertisement 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.' ___ AP college basketball:
