Earlier this month, the TCU Horned Frogs suffered a loss against the 7th-ranked Texas Longhorns in their home stadium.
Pre-game excitement echoed around TCU’s Schollmaier Arena on February 10, as the once-winning Horned Frogs hosted the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns.
The Frogs’ record-breaking 14-game winning streak came to an end in the new year due to catastrophic injuries to four key players: Sedona Prince, Madison Conner, Jaden Owens, and DaiJa Turner.
Two losses were forfeited because the team of only six players could not safely field a squad on the court. Desperate, TCU held walk-on tryouts, which was a first for this school’s squad.
Mekhayia Moore, a pre-med sophomore, was one of four players to make the Division 1 team.
“I was like, this is probably never going to happen again,” Moore said, pausing during an off-day team practice. “The least I can do is get, like a little taste of college basketball and especially at the D-1 level, which has been really amazing so far.”
Moore has played ball for more than half of her life, notably for Texas state champion Brownsboro High School. But the intellectual standout believed she had left team play behind. She hadn’t practiced for months, if not years. She and the other walk-ons were aware that their abilities did not match those of their teammates. Their passion, nevertheless, was. Just ask guard Madison Conner, a TCU star who was hurt.
“These girls have been wonderful. They came in.
“Every day and work,” said Conner, who was practicing for the first time since her accident. “I mean, they just help me with the workout, so these girls didn’t have the chance to come to a Big 12 school on a scholarship like the rest of us. So… just seeing how much they like the game and truly want to be a part of the squad.”
Female basketball player shoots a basket.
TCU’s Madison Conner shoots a shot on a day off after missing a game due to an injury. Mark Campbell, Horned Frogs coach, appears in the background.
TCU coach Mark Campbell was unsure what he’d see during the try-outs. After all, school had already begun, class schedules had been established, and any potential candidates were out of practice, if not out of shape. However, he claims that 40 to 50 young women participated.
“Everyone who came to try out for the team sold out. They were diving on the floor. “They were just beet red,” Campbell said in his office immediately before a team workout. “They were competing.” It was so pleasant to see the enthusiasm and passion for
at least the division1 college basketball
