After a big win on Tuesday over UCF, TCU women's basketball head coach Mark Campbell discusses the new offense and how they move forward this season.
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00:00 (crowd cheering)
00:02 - That's a big mic right there.
00:13 - Yes sir.
00:14 So how'd today's practice go for you?
00:19 - Oh, today was fun and exciting.
00:22 Kind of had two practices,
00:24 had the walk-ons that came for an hour
00:27 before a real practice so that they could learn
00:30 some of our shooting drills and three man weave that we do.
00:35 And then they got a dry run,
00:37 just a lot of our offensive scheme.
00:39 So they're learning our motion and whatnot.
00:42 And then once our team got done with weights,
00:45 the walk-ons joined the whole group
00:47 and had a great 90 minute practice.
00:49 And I'm guessing those three are gonna go
00:52 take some ice baths right now.
00:53 - Mark, you mentioned after Saturday's game
00:56 that you typically don't have walk-ons on the roster.
01:00 I know that this year is a unique circumstance,
01:02 but is there an opportunity to reevaluate that moving forward?
01:05 - Oh yeah, each season it's case by case,
01:09 depending on your roster size.
01:11 And so in women's basketball,
01:13 you have up to 15 scholarships.
01:15 And how you use those is tricky.
01:18 Sometimes you wanna, you know,
01:19 Hayley Cavender pops up mid-year
01:23 and you wanna be sitting on a scholarship
01:24 to scoop up one of those players.
01:27 And so it's case by case.
01:30 Tell you what's really neat about these walk-ons
01:31 is they're all freshmen and sophomores.
01:34 And so they're gonna be here next season.
01:36 So it's kinda, you're getting them in the family
01:38 and you get them for, you know, the back end of the season
01:42 and seeing if maybe they'd wanna come back next year
01:45 and if it's something that could work.
01:46 But as a coach, you gotta always be able to adjust
01:50 and adapt.
01:52 And so I'm not setting stone in my ways,
01:56 but right now these young ladies have been phenomenal.
02:00 - Were they on your radar at all?
02:02 Did you?
02:02 - No, not at all.
02:05 They were not on the radar.
02:07 I mean, we're just in year one.
02:08 We haven't even hit 12 months yet.
02:10 And so just inheriting the group that we did,
02:13 adding the portal kids,
02:15 the freshmen that signed with the old staff,
02:17 you're just trying to get that whole puzzle sorted out.
02:20 So we were not aware of any of these kids
02:24 when we got hired.
02:25 - They have some pedigree, high school-wise.
02:28 - Yeah, they, again, I never saw them play in high school.
02:34 Just as you get to know them,
02:36 once we did the tryouts and you identified the kids
02:39 that you thought were the best players,
02:41 then there is also,
02:42 you just gotta make sure they fit our culture
02:44 and who are they and what's their background.
02:47 So it's been fun getting to know them
02:49 and getting to sit down
02:51 and we've reached out to their high school coaches
02:53 and just making sure it's a right fit off the court as well
02:56 and in the locker room.
02:58 'Cause you spend so much time together
03:00 between practices and weight room sessions,
03:03 and then they're gonna be on the road traveling with us
03:05 and airplane flights and hotels.
03:07 So they're truly a part of the family.
03:09 So there's that element.
03:11 You wanna make sure it's the right fit.
03:13 - Coaches, this is one of the weirdest deals
03:16 that kind of played out in your coaching career.
03:18 How does it feel? - It is incredibly unique.
03:21 Yeah, and it's nothing that you wish upon anybody.
03:24 The injury bug happens every year.
03:28 This is just more than normal.
03:30 But it's life.
03:32 Life will throw you curve balls
03:36 and you gotta be able to adjust.
03:38 And it's so good for these young people to realize
03:41 you don't put your head down, you don't pout.
03:43 Nobody feels sorry for us.
03:46 You gotta make the best of the hand that we're dealt.
03:50 And so I've never had a season like this.
03:52 I mean, mid-year, open tryouts to field the team,
03:56 so you got 10 to practice.
03:58 That's not normal.
03:59 But our staff has done phenomenal navigating it.
04:04 And these young ladies have been phenomenal.
04:07 And they've welcomed the walk-ons with open arms.
04:10 - How's the installation of the five out motion going?
04:12 - Oh man, we're all learning
04:14 this five out motion thing right now on the fly.
04:18 I've had it, it's been a blast.
04:20 It really has.
04:21 To study it, something new.
04:24 As our team is adjusting to this and new roles
04:28 and not having a true center,
04:30 our staff has just dove into film and learning.
04:33 And we're still learning.
04:35 And figuring out breakdown drills.
04:37 So it's been challenging,
04:39 but at the same time, it's been fun.
04:42 - Are you surprised by the attention that this has created?
04:46 - Yes, I don't think any of us saw
04:49 this becoming a national story at all.
04:54 None, nobody.
04:55 I think admin, us, nobody saw it.
04:58 But it's inspirational.
05:01 All the movies, they're all about an underdog
05:04 that overcame adversity.
05:06 And that's the storyline that humans love to follow
05:10 and they love to root for the underdog.
05:13 In some weird ways, unplanned,
05:16 you've kind of become America's team.
05:17 There's a really neat storyline.
05:21 You had the 14 and 0 start
05:22 with kind of the big name portal kids.
05:24 And then there's these injuries and the tryouts.
05:27 And all of a sudden, you've truly become
05:29 this massive underdog.
05:31 And so we're embracing it because it's reality.
05:35 It's what's unfolded.
05:36 And then we came back and got a win.
05:40 After not being able to even practice five on five.
05:42 And so this is who we are.
05:45 This is what we do.
05:46 And we're running with it.
05:47 - How does this movie end coach?
05:49 - Well, gosh dang, I hope it ends in the NCAA tournament.
05:53 But I hope it ends with us playing
05:57 in a final four someday.
05:58 You have the journey of this season,
06:03 but it's really inherited a program that went one and 17,
06:07 eight wins overall.
06:08 You're kind of at the ground floor, the BCS level,
06:10 and can you restore it and build something special?
06:13 And we came here to build one of the elite women's
06:16 basketball programs in college basketball.
06:18 And that doesn't happen overnight.
06:20 I wish it did.
06:21 But I hope the movie ends
06:23 when we're playing in a final four someday.
06:26 - But you mentioned this a little bit after Saturday,
06:27 but talk a little bit about how this experience
06:30 has allowed not just in your program,
06:33 but the university to maybe shine through.
06:35 - Absolutely.
06:35 I think number one, our own culture of just hard work,
06:40 of showing up each day and doing your job at a high level.
06:44 And the team has done that.
06:48 But the university, I mean,
06:50 this thing is truly a family environment.
06:54 The admin has walked alongside us
06:57 as we've navigated the open tryout situation
07:00 and they've been so supportive.
07:03 It's a huge onboarding process from compliance to academics.
07:08 And those groups of people have been incredible.
07:11 And then Jason with volleyball,
07:14 to allow Sarah to come help us
07:17 and to do it though with just an incredible spirit.
07:21 He was here at the tryouts.
07:23 He sat courtside at our game.
07:25 And then a whole bunch of coaches have reached out
07:29 within our athletic department to just encourage us.
07:33 But TCU is a special place.
07:35 And it's that small intimate environment
07:38 where it's kind of all hands on deck.
07:40 And so it starts with Jeremiah and it trickles down.
07:43 Kim oversees women's basketball
07:46 and she's been in the trenches with us,
07:48 just helping us work through all this stuff.
07:50 So I think the country kind of gets to see
07:54 how special TCU is as a place.
07:56 - Thank you, coach.
07:58 - Coach, going back to the offense a little bit,
08:01 what was kind of the thought process
08:03 as coaches to decide to switch to the offense?
08:06 - Yeah, out of necessity.
08:08 We didn't, we're pick and roll based.
08:10 And to be a good pick and roll team,
08:12 you need a dynamic playmaking guard
08:14 and you need an elite center.
08:16 And so Sedona Prince goes down and Jaden Owens goes down
08:20 and Madison Connor goes down.
08:22 Well, you got to adjust and pivot.
08:24 And so, and you got to play small ball.
08:28 In this league, all these teams have big true centers.
08:31 And so, well, how can you offset that?
08:34 And the five out motion spread you out
08:38 and makes all those guys come out and guard you
08:40 and have to chase you.
08:41 And it's kind of an equalizer.
08:43 And so it's just, you didn't know how long it's going to take
08:46 for the kids to get comfortable.
08:48 They did far better than I would have guessed
08:51 in our first game.
08:53 And playing Central Florida,
08:54 that was the first time we played five on five live
08:57 against anybody.
08:58 We had, I think, 15 turnovers in the first half.
09:03 And then the second half came out,
09:04 I think we had four and played good ball.
09:07 And so that's part of the growing pains.
09:10 And we'll just keep trying to get better each game,
09:12 study our film session and keep chipping away.
09:15 - Is it nice to have five on five today for practice?
09:17 - Yes, yes.
09:19 That's how you, to get good, you got to compete.
09:21 You got to play.
09:22 Those three walk-ons that were here today
09:26 did a phenomenal job competing.
09:29 I'm telling you, it's not,
09:31 you guys have to understand the whole context,
09:33 the big picture.
09:34 These kids are not in basketball shape.
09:36 I mean, they've just been walking around,
09:38 going to class, eating Chick-fil-A.
09:40 You know, or we got Chicken Express right down the street.
09:44 And all of a sudden they're going full tilt
09:47 with a group of athletes that's been training.
09:50 They're about eight months into this thing
09:51 of full tilt training.
09:53 And so it's been quite a journey, quite a process.
09:58 - So just a little bit of a pivot away.
10:01 Coach Dixon has been banging the drum recently
10:04 about changing the redshirt rules for college basketball
10:07 to match what's happened over in college football
10:09 over the last few years.
10:10 So I just kind of want to get your thoughts
10:11 on the redshirt rule in college basketball.
10:13 Have you changed anything about it?
10:15 - Yeah, because you can't, you play a minute,
10:17 you can't redshirt.
10:19 So there's no wiggle room.
10:21 I wish we had, you know, like football does,
10:24 a grace period where kids can play for a certain percentage
10:29 and can still shut it down if they need.
10:32 But right now with the way the redshirt rule is,
10:34 there's zero margin for error.
10:36 You check into a game, it's gone.
10:39 So hopefully we, Coach Dixon's spot on
10:42 and hopefully basketball can adapt with that.
10:45 - The decision finally came,
10:50 how did you realize you can't play like this?
10:53 - Style of play or bodies?
10:55 - No, the bodies, going way back to when
10:57 you had to make those tough decisions.
10:59 - Yeah, well, from the Baylor game,
11:01 Sedona was the first one.
11:03 I mean, you've had little injuries all throughout the season
11:06 which is normal, but the trigger started
11:08 with Sedona at the Baylor game.
11:10 I mean, first pass after the jump ball on a horns entry,
11:14 fractures her finger, and that started the domino
11:20 over the two weeks where you got down to six kids
11:24 and of those six kids, they weren't even all healthy.
11:27 And so there was no, it was the next day,
11:32 we have to do tryouts and how quickly can we do that?
11:37 Even for tryouts, they have to sign their waivers,
11:39 they have to get physicals at the health center.
11:42 And so the health center has been incredible for us,
11:44 but that pivot happened from we can't field the team
11:49 and the admin and the Big 12 can't forfeiting
11:54 those two games.
11:56 I mean, from that decision to pivot, how do we immediately,
11:59 how quick can we turn this around,
12:01 get walk on so we can start playing again?
12:03 - Anything else for coach?
12:07 All right, thanks everyone.
12:08 - Thanks you guys.
12:09 - Appreciate it.
12:10 - Yeah, thanks for coming.
12:11 - Thank you.
12:12 - Thank you.
12:13 - Good to see you.
12:14 - Good to see you.
12:14 - Thanks for coming.
12:15 - Appreciate it.