FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mark Campbell was hired as TCU's women's basketball coach Tuesday after the former Oregon assistant took Sacramento State to its first NCAA Tournament in an impressive and quick turnaround.
Sacramento State was coming off a 3-22 season when Campbell was hired two years ago. The Hornets won 14 games in Campbell's first season, and then made another 11-win improvement this season while finishing 25-8 with Big Sky regular-season and tournament championships.
During his seven seasons on Oregon's staff before that, the Ducks had some of the nation's top recruiting classes. That included Campbell recruiting Sabrina Ionescu, who became the AP player of the year in 2020 before she was the first overall pick in the WNBA draft.
Campbell replaces Raegan Pebley, who stepped down after nine seasons as TCU's coach with a 141-138 record. The Horned Frogs were 8-23 this season, including 1-17 in Big 12 play during the regular season.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati described Campbell as an elite recruiter and program builder.
“Similar to his success at Sacramento State, he was instrumental in Oregon quickly becoming one of the nation’s most successful programs, reaching their first NCAA Elite Eight and then Final Four," Donati said.
The Frogs haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2010. That was their ninth NCAA appearance, all coming in a 10-season span without making it past the second round.
___
AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
