By: Jonah Lewis
With the sheer amount of talent entering the transfer portal, a number of teams were bound to make a splash to fill their team needs. TCU were among the few to hit the jackpot as we examine the talent they picked up!
Led by Sedona Prince and first-year head coach Mark Campbell, TCU finished the year with an overall record of 21-12 and a conference record of 6-12.
Hailey Van Lith
Former Louisville and LSU star, Hailey Van Lith, was easily the biggest pickup for TCU’s women’s program. She excelled at Louisville in her first three collegiate years with the ’22-’23 season seeing Van Lith post her best numbers to date. She averaged 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists that year with the only other player boasting those numbers that year was none other than Caitlin Clark!
Van Lith was crucial in leading the Cardinals to the Elite Eight that year where she averaged an impressive 23.8 points for the tournament.
Van Lith decided to head on over to Baton Rouge to join forces with Kim Mulkey at LSU which already had its fair share of star power in Angel Reese, Flau’Jae Johnson, and Aneesah Morrow. Hailey expressed a desire to play point guard, a position that is not her natural one and Kim Mulkey obliged, allowing her to do just that. Van Lith finished the year with 11.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. Admittedly, it was a down year in some aspects for Van Lith, but she helped the defending champions return to the Elite Eight, where they would fall to defeat to the Caitlin Clark-led Hawkeyes.
Despite that, it is very clear that Hailey Van Lith is extremely talented and will help TCU’s young backcourt tremendously in her final collegiate year. They are gaining star power and a proven winner to help lead their program to new heights.
Adding Hailey Van Lith was a major move for TCU, but they did not stop there. Donovyn Hunter out of Oregon State decided that Fort Worth is the place she wants to be, and what a welcoming addition she is! Donovyn was only one of five players named to the PAC-12 All-Freshman team. She averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in her freshman campaign with the Oregon State Beavers. Donovyn is a very promising talent at the point guard position as she was the first freshman to start at PG for Oregon State in nearly 10 years. That speaks volumes about her talent.
Her best performance of the year came against the talented Utah Utes led by current Minnesota Lynx no. 8 draft pick Alissa Pili. Donovyn tallied an impressive 17 points and 10 assists in their blowout 91-66 win. Who doesn’t love a double-double? Donovyn will be entering her sophomore year at TCU, and with the likes of Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince, and Madison Conner a part of the team, she will not be short of leadership surrounding her to ensure she learns as much as she can to continue her development into a great player and teammate. The future for Donovyn and TCU’s backcourt is looking great for years to come.
The guard party isn’t stopping there for TCU as they also add ex-USC standout guard Taylor Bigby. It’s worth noting she has signed on as a redshirt junior, so Bigby will still have two years of eligibility to play for TCU. Bigby is reuniting with head coach Mark Campbell, who recruited her out of high school while he was an assistant at Oregon. Bigby was the No. 29 recruit in the class of 2021. Unfortunately, Bigby only played 9 games while at Oregon due to injury and then transferred to USC.
Bigby played in 34 games last year for USC, starting 11 of them. Her best performance came against Cal State Fullerton, where she finished with 15 points on 5/8 shooting and an impressive 5/7 from 3. She finished in the top 15 among PAC-12 players in three-point percentage with 37%, which got her 12th place, a fantastic achievement. Bigby will join a very stacked TCU guard room, but she’s an amazing talent. Mark Campbell would not have sought her out a second time if he didn’t think she could make valuable contributions to TCU.
TCU has made another impressive addition through the transfer portal by bringing in Maddie Scherr from Kentucky. Scherr will be joining Taylor Bigby and Sedona Prince at TCU, making her the third Oregon Duck to become a Horned Frog under head coach Mark Campbell’s leadership. Scherr and Sedona have already played together at Oregon and will now have the opportunity to be teammates once again.
In her last season at Kentucky, Scherr averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. She brings a veteran presence to TCU alongside another newcomer, Hailey Van Lith, for the upcoming season. Scherr is a great game controller but can also be a reliable scorer when needed, and she excels on the defensive end as well. Transitioning from the SEC to the Big 12 will be a change for Scherr, but having competed in the competitive SEC will undoubtedly have prepared her well. Scherr, like Van Lith, brings SEC and tournament experience and success to the Horned Frogs, adding valuable depth and skill to the team.
A Clear Upgrade
With the recent additions of Hailey Van Lith, Donovyn Hunter, Taylor Bigby, and Maddie Scherr, TCU’s guard room has become significantly deeper and more talented. These new additions join standout players like Madison Conner, Una Jovanovic, Knisha Godfrey, and Agnes Emma-Nnopu. TCU now boasts one of the best backcourts in college basketball. It will be up to head coach Mark Campbell and the coaching staff to effectively utilize the talent they have in the guard positions for the upcoming season. The combination of these transfer additions with returning players like Sedona Prince and Madison Conner will make TCU a formidable team not just in the Big 12 but also in all of college basketball. The depth and skill in the guard room will provide TCU with a strong foundation for success in the upcoming season.
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