Van Lith, Campbell Named Semifinalists for Naismith Awards
3/13/2025 11:13:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Are among the final 10 candidates for Player of the Year, Coach of the Year
FORT WORTH – Hailey Van Lith and Mark Campbell have been lynched at the hip in leading TCU to its greatest basketball season and are among the leading candidates for a pair of major national awards.
Van Lith is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year while Campbell was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year.
The 10 semifinalists for each award were chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, past award winners and conference commissioners.
The awards lists will condense to four finalists during the week of March 24-28 before an eventual winner is announced during NCAA Final Four Weekend.
The selections add to the duo's ever-growing list of accolades in advance of the NCAA Tournament.
Van Lith swept Big 12 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors earlier in March. She was tabbed Associated Press National Player of the Week and Big 12 Championship MVP after leading No. 6 TCU (31-3, 16-2 Big 12) to the conference tournament title on Sunday. Van Lith is also one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top player. Campbell was crowned Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Ahead of Selection Sunday, Van Lith is one of only three D1 players who has tallied at least 600 points and 180 assists. The 5-9 guard is averaging 17.9 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game while maintaining a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. She is the only player ranking in the top 10 of the Big 12 statistical leaderboard in all four categories.
Van Lith averaged 21.2 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 95 percent from the foul line (20-21) in TCU's Big 12 Championship run. She finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the Horned Frogs' 71-65 semifinal victory over No. 16 West Virginia and led all scorers with 20 points as TCU took Down 17th-ranked Baylor, 64-59, in Sunday's championship.
Behind Campbell, TCU became the first team in Big 12 history to sweep the outright regular season and tournament championships within two seasons of finishing in last place. Campbell's 16 conference wins are the most by a Big 12 head coach in his/her first or second season in the league. The Frogs' jump of 12 conference victories from last season (seven) to this season (19) is the largest in Division I basketball.
With Campbell at the helm, TCU is tied for the NCAA-lead in total wins and has produced an 8-2 mark against the AP Top 25. The Horned Frogs' eight ranked victories are the fifth-most of any team in America.
After beginning the season unranked, Van Lith and Campbell staked TCU to its highest rankings in both The Associated Press poll and WBCA Coaches Poll (No. 6) on Monday. TCU was tabbed a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Charlie Creme's latest Women's Bracketology for ESPN.com. The Frogs are slotted eighth in the NCAA NET rankings and were awarded the No. 9 overall seed on Feb. 27 in the second-and-final early reveal of the top-16 seeds by the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee. The projections point to TCU earning the opportunity to host first and second round games for the first time ever from March 20-24.
The ESPN Selection Sunday Special airs at 7 p.m. on Sunday. To celebrate its return to the Big Dance, TCU is hosting a public watch party at Schollmaier Arena, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
Naismith Trophy Women's Player of the Year Semifinalists
Georgia Amoore (Kentucky)
Lauren Betts (UCLA)
Madison Booker (Texas)
Paige Bueckers (UConn)
Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame)
Ta'Niya Latson (Vanderbilt)
Olivia Miles (Notre Dame)
Aneesah Morrow (LSU)
Hailey Van Lith (TCU)
Juju Watkins (USC)
Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Semifinalists
Geno Auriemma (UConn)
Kenny Brooks (Kentucky)
Mark Campbell (TCU)
Cori Close (UCLA)
Lindsey Gottlieb (USC)
Niele Ivey (Notre Dame)
Wes Moore (NC State)
Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Dawn Staley (South Carolina)
Van Lith is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year while Campbell was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year.
The 10 semifinalists for each award were chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, past award winners and conference commissioners.
The awards lists will condense to four finalists during the week of March 24-28 before an eventual winner is announced during NCAA Final Four Weekend.
The selections add to the duo's ever-growing list of accolades in advance of the NCAA Tournament.
Van Lith swept Big 12 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors earlier in March. She was tabbed Associated Press National Player of the Week and Big 12 Championship MVP after leading No. 6 TCU (31-3, 16-2 Big 12) to the conference tournament title on Sunday. Van Lith is also one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top player. Campbell was crowned Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Ahead of Selection Sunday, Van Lith is one of only three D1 players who has tallied at least 600 points and 180 assists. The 5-9 guard is averaging 17.9 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game while maintaining a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. She is the only player ranking in the top 10 of the Big 12 statistical leaderboard in all four categories.
Van Lith averaged 21.2 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 95 percent from the foul line (20-21) in TCU's Big 12 Championship run. She finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the Horned Frogs' 71-65 semifinal victory over No. 16 West Virginia and led all scorers with 20 points as TCU took Down 17th-ranked Baylor, 64-59, in Sunday's championship.
Behind Campbell, TCU became the first team in Big 12 history to sweep the outright regular season and tournament championships within two seasons of finishing in last place. Campbell's 16 conference wins are the most by a Big 12 head coach in his/her first or second season in the league. The Frogs' jump of 12 conference victories from last season (seven) to this season (19) is the largest in Division I basketball.
With Campbell at the helm, TCU is tied for the NCAA-lead in total wins and has produced an 8-2 mark against the AP Top 25. The Horned Frogs' eight ranked victories are the fifth-most of any team in America.
After beginning the season unranked, Van Lith and Campbell staked TCU to its highest rankings in both The Associated Press poll and WBCA Coaches Poll (No. 6) on Monday. TCU was tabbed a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Charlie Creme's latest Women's Bracketology for ESPN.com. The Frogs are slotted eighth in the NCAA NET rankings and were awarded the No. 9 overall seed on Feb. 27 in the second-and-final early reveal of the top-16 seeds by the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee. The projections point to TCU earning the opportunity to host first and second round games for the first time ever from March 20-24.
The ESPN Selection Sunday Special airs at 7 p.m. on Sunday. To celebrate its return to the Big Dance, TCU is hosting a public watch party at Schollmaier Arena, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
Naismith Trophy Women's Player of the Year Semifinalists
Georgia Amoore (Kentucky)
Lauren Betts (UCLA)
Madison Booker (Texas)
Paige Bueckers (UConn)
Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame)
Ta'Niya Latson (Vanderbilt)
Olivia Miles (Notre Dame)
Aneesah Morrow (LSU)
Hailey Van Lith (TCU)
Juju Watkins (USC)
Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Semifinalists
Geno Auriemma (UConn)
Kenny Brooks (Kentucky)
Mark Campbell (TCU)
Cori Close (UCLA)
Lindsey Gottlieb (USC)
Niele Ivey (Notre Dame)
Wes Moore (NC State)
Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Dawn Staley (South Carolina)
Players Mentioned
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