TCU has hired Mark Campbell as its new women’s basketball coach, replacing Raegan Pebley, who resigned at the end of February.
TCU Director of Athletics Jeremiah Donati introduced the 42-year-old Campbell [he turns 43 on March 25] at a press conference in Fort Worth on Thursday.
“Today is an exciting day for the TCU women’s basketball program, TCU athletics, and the TCU community as a whole as we introduce our new head women’s basketball coach, Mark Campbell,” Donati began.
“First, to the fans, to the former players, and to the alums, I want to say, ‘We heard you. We heard you loud and clear.’ We understand you’re hungry to win. I’m hungry to win. I know you want to see improvement, and I know you want to bring excitement back to women’s basketball here at TCU,” he continued.
“Today, we are taking a giant step toward all that, I assure you.”
Donati divulged that the search process for the new coach took about three weeks and began immediately after Pebley announced she would not return.
He added that recruiting prowess, experience as a program builder and developer of players, and a “championship mindset” set Campbell apart from other candidates.
“At the end of the day, Mark had a superior plan to turn this program around,” Donati declared. “We have high expectations here at TCU. We have high expectations for our women’s basketball program, and we expect to compete for championships.”
“Mark is the perfect fit to help us reach those expectations, and I could not be more excited for the future of our women’s basketball program,” Donati concluded.
Campbell joins the Horned Frogs after two seasons as the head coach at Sacramento State. During his two-year stint, he took the program from a 3-22 record to a 25-win season with a Big Sky championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Sacramento State hired Campbell from Oregon, where he helped lead the program to new heights as an assistant coach and helped recruit and develop several WNBA players, including 2020 first-overall pick Sabrina Ionescu.
Campbell also helped revive the Oregon State women’s basketball program and turn it into an NCAA Tournament contender.
Campbell believes those experiences have him ready to lead the TCU program as it attempts its own rebuild from an 8-23 season.
“Over the last 16 years, my coaching experiences have prepared me for this opportunity,” he told reporters as he was introduced. “As Jeremiah mentioned, I’ve been a part of three major rebuilding projects. … All of those life experiences have prepared me for this rebuild.”
“I’ve had a lot of different opportunities, and I’ve been very selective with each step in my journey,” Campbell added. “TCU has everything in place to win at the highest level, which is clear and evident across the board. Every sport at TCU is competing for championships and winning at the highest level, except for the women’s basketball program, and we’re going to get that fixed.”
Campbell cited the passion of the TCU fanbase, the school’s resources and facilities, and its “elite” location as strengths that drew him to the job.
“Texas, for women’s basketball, is an absolute hotbed,” he explained. “It has some of the best coaches at the high school level, and it has some of the most elite summer travel program coaches. Our staff is beyond excited to dive into that and get going on the recruiting trail.”
While expectations will be high, Campbell wants fans to realize that rebuilding the right way is his priority.
“We want to build a program that’s built to last, but we also want to win and win quickly,” he concluded.