It’s the ultimate Underfrog story.
Ella Hamlin, one of four TCU students who walked on to the women’s basketball team last season after a rash of injuries forced the Horned Frogs to forfeit two games, was awarded a full scholarship on Tuesday.
It was almost one year ago when Horned Frogs head coach Mark Campbell, then in his first season at TCU, held open tryouts after two players were lost to injuries while two more were on minutes restrictions as they returned from previous injuries. That left the team with four healthy scholarship players.
The week the Horned Frogs forfeited games against Kansas State and at Iowa State, Campbell held the tryouts. Four players made the team as walk-ons, earning the nickname “Underfrogs.”
After a 14-0 start to the season, TCU finished 20-11 and 6-12 in the Big 12.
Hamlin, from Granbury, Texas, is the only one of the Underfrogs who returned for this season, and she has played in 10 games thus far. On Tuesday, TCU beat UCF 90-81 to improve to 18-1 overall and 6-0 in conference, while sporting a No. 10 ranking nationally. After the game, Campbell surprised Hamlin with a full scholarship in a video posted by the team to its social media channels.
“Ella, we’re just super grateful for you,” Campbell said before surprising Hamlin. “When there’s adversity, most people run away from it. The Underfrogs, when adversity hit, you guys decided to step us so we could continue our season.”
As he became more emotional as he spoke, Campbell noted it was no coincidence he awarded the scholarship on Tuesday, as a 66-60 win over UCF on Jan. 23 of last year was the only victory in an 12-game run that included the two forfeits.
“That game a year ago was the foundation of our program,” Campbell said. “And Ella’s a stud.”
He then announced Hamlin had earned a scholarship and her teammates mobbed her in celebration.
–Field Level Media
