TCU Women's Basketball Stars Van Lith, Conner Selected in 2025 WNBA Draft

Hailey Van Lith (left) and Madison Conner

TCU women's basketball stars Hailey Van Lith and Madison Conner were selected in the recent 2025 WNBA Draft.

Van Lith was selected in the first round, with the No. 11 overall pick, by the Chicago Sky.

Conner was drafted 29th overall, in the third round, by the Seattle Storm. She was released by the Storm before the WNBA season began.

TCU's women basketball program was one of five to produce multiple draft picks, joining UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Alabama.

Van Lith and Conner are TCU's second and third WNBA Draft choices in program history. TCU last produced a WNBA Draft pick in 2005 . Sandora Irvin went No. 3 overall to the Phoenix Mercury.
 
Van Lith departed TCU with 2,616 points, 698 rebounds, 579 assists and 171 games started. She became the NCAA record holder for most games started and minutes played (5,692) following her first and only season in Fort Worth in 2024-25. 

Van Lith led her teams Louisville, LSU, TCU) to a 145-31 combined overall record across her five-year collegiate career. She became the first and only player in the history of the sport to lead three separate schools to the Elite Eight. She helped lead TCU to its debut appearance in an NCAA Regional Final this past season.

Val Lith's 2024-25 campaign was the greatest single season a TCU basketball player has engineered. She was tabbed an All-American by all four major media organizations. The 5-9 guard swept Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Year accolades and was named the league's tournament MVP.  She averaged 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, while concluding the year with a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Van Lith broke TCU's single-season records for points scored (683) and assists (204). She was one of three players in the country in 2024-25 to record 600 points and 200 assists.
 
Conner led the NCAA in 3-pointers (128) and ranked second nationally in 3-pointers per game (3.4) in 2024-25. Conner was the lone Division 1 player to finish in the top 10 in 3-pointers, 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage (10th, .449) in the final NCAA statistical rankings. She scored four-or-more 3-pointers in an NCAA-leading 19 games. Conner shattered her own program for most 3-pointers in a season and departed campus ranked second in the Big 12 single-season record book in the category.
 
Conner was an Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award finalist, All-Big 12 first team player and owner of the best career 3-pointers per game average (3.5) in the history of the Big 12. She left TCU with the third-highest career scoring average (16.4 ppg) by any player in program history. Her 227 combined 3-pointers across her two-year TCU career are the fourth-most ever recorded by a Horned Frog.

 

 

Gary Patterson a Member of 58th TCU Athletics Hall of Fame Class

Former TCU head football coach Gary Patterson, who led the Horned Frogs to victory in the 2011 Rose Bowl, is a member of the 58th TCU Athletics Hall of Fame class.

TCU Athletics and the TCU Block T Association have announced that the 58th TCU Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be inducted in the Fall of 2025 will include a pair of former TCU head coaches, six former student-athletes and an inductee that was deferred from the 2019 Hall of Fame class.
 
The nine who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Thursday, September 18, are: Julien Brun '15 (men's golf), Matt Carpenter '09 (baseball), Whitney Gipson '12 (track & field), Preston Morrison '15 (baseball), Glen Norris '78 (track & field), Gary Patterson (football), Charles Silmon '14 (track & field), Richard Sybesma (swimming & diving), and Jason Verrett '13 (football).
 
Patterson and Sybesma will be inducted as Special Contributors. Norris will be enshrined as this year's Vintage honoree. Carpenter, who was part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2019, will be inducted this year after deferring to the conclusion of his professional baseball career.

Here are overviews of the honorees:
 
Julien Brun, Men's Golf: Brun is one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history after compiling a long list of firsts for TCU men's golf in his three years on campus. He is the only men's golfer to be named first-team all-American three times in a career, earning the honor in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He set school records as a freshman for victories in a season and a career (3), as well as for stroke average. He matched or bettered those marks the next year as a sophomore and rounded out his career with a school record nine individual titles. Brun was the third Frog to earn reserve-medalist honors at a NCAA Championship, tying for second-place in 2012 at Riviera Country Club.
 
Matt Carpenter, Baseball: Carpenter had a standout college career with the Frogs, primarily as the team's third baseman from 2005-09. He was a three-time second-team all-Mountain West Conference selection (2006, 2008 and 2009) and left as the school's all-time leader in games played (241) and at-bats (843). He is now third in games played, and fourth in at-bats. Carpenter became a three-time All-Star for the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the MLB in hits, runs scored and doubles in 2013, finishing fourth in MVP voting.
 
Whitney (Gipson) Bright, Track & Field: Gipson is a two-time NCAA National Champion, having set and still holding the school record in both indoor and outdoor long jump events. She tallied an indoor jump of 22' 8" in March 2012 to win the indoor championship and later recorded an outdoor mark of 22' 10.5" in July of that same year to capture the outdoor championship. Her indoor mark tied the NCAA record at the time. She became TCU's first-ever female track & field athlete to win an indoor and outdoor national championship in the same event. She earned six all-American honors as a long jumper (three indoor, three outdoor) and earned an all-American nod as a member of the 2012 4x100 relay team.
 
Preston Morrison, Baseball: Morrison was a four-time all-American, earning Freshman all-America honors in 2012 and following with third-team (2013), first-team (2014) and second team (2015) all-America selections. He is the only TCU pitcher to throw 400-plus innings in a career and ranks No. 1 all-time with 61 career games started. His 37 career victories rank second to only fellow Hall of Famer Frank Johnstone's total of 38 (1971-74) and he also ranks second all-time with 322 career strikeouts. A four-time all-conference selection, Morrison was named the league's Pitcher of the Year in the Mountain West Conference (2012) and the Big 12 (2014).
 
Glen Norris, Track & Field: Norris was a two-time all-American running as the first-leg on the 1975 and 1976 4x400 relay teams. His relay team in 1975 was the first TCU relay team to win a Southwest Conference title and the squad finished fourth at the NCAA Championships. Norris was a conference finalist in the 100-yard dash in 1975. His other accolades included being a finalist in the indoor 60-yard dash that same season.
 
Gary Patterson, Football: Coach Patterson spent 24 years as a TCU coach for the football team, serving as defensive coordinator from 1998-2000, then as head football coach from 2000-21. He set the TCU all-time coaching record with 181 wins – 72 more than Dutch Meyer, who ranks second on the list. Patterson won 22 national coach of the year honors and posted 10 seasons with 11 wins or more. He guided the Horned Frogs to six conference championships, while mentoring 263 all-conference selections, 21 first team all-Americans and 55 NFL Draft picks.
 
Charles Silmon, Track & Field: Silmon was a 2013 NCAA National Champion, winning the 100-meter event with a time of 9.89. He is a five-time all-American honoree, earning honors twice in the indoor 60-meters, along with three outdoor honors. Silmon was the 2012 Mountain West Conference and 2013 Big 12 Conference indoor champion in the 60-meters, and the 2012 MWC indoor champion in the 200-meters. He was a four-time conference champion in the outdoor 100-meters, winning the event three straight years in the MWC (2010-12) and in the Big 12 in 2013. He was also a two-time outdoor champion in the 200-meters (MWC, 2011; Big 12, 2012).
 
Richard Sybesma, Swimming & Diving: Coach Sybesma, who retired in 2017, served as the longest tenured head coach for any sport at TCU. He spent 38 years at the helm of the swimming and diving program. After arriving at TCU in 1979, Sybesma guided the Horned Frogs in five different conferences (Southwest, WAC, Conference USA, Mountain West and Big 12) over a span of five decades. The Horned Frogs won seven team conference championships and 16 individual league titles under Sybesma. He produced seven national champions, 18 all-Americans and four Olympians. He is a five-time conference coach of the year.
 
Jason Verrett, Football: Verrett was a two-time all-American for the Horned Frogs, in 2012 and 2013. A three-time all-conference selection (2011-13), he was tabbed the Big 12 Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 following a season where he tallied 39 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He led the team and the Big 12 with 14 pass break-ups that season. Verrett was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, going 25th overall to the San Diego Chargers. He was the highest TCU defensive player selected in the NFL Draft since Bob Lilly was taken 13th overall in 1961.

 

 

TCU Football Stars Jack Bech, Savion Williams Selected in 2025 NFL Draft

                  TCU wide receiver Savion Williams (#3) scores a touchdown in the Frogs' 49-28 win over Arizona during the 2024 season.                                -- Photo by Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

TCU football stars Jack Bech and Savion Williams soon will begin their National Football League (NFL) careers after being selected on Friday, April 25, in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Bech, a wide receiver, was drafted in the second round (58th) by the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Williams, a wide receiver, was drafted in the third round (87th) by the Green Bay Packers.

TCU has six wide receivers in the NFL. Bech and Williams join Derius Davis, Quentin Johnston and Jalen Reagor of the Los Angeles Chargers and KaVontae Turpin of the Dallas Cowboys.

Under head football coach Sonny Dykes, TCU Football has had 13 players drafted over the last three seasons.

In addition to the draft selections of Bech and Williams, eight Horned Frogs have signed free-agent contracts or received rookie mini-camp invites. 

Bech is the first TCU player drafted by the Raiders since safety Tre'von Moehrig in the second round of the 2021 draft.

When last in game action, Bech was the Senior Bowl Most Valuable Player. On the game's final snap, his 2-yard touchdown catch on a 4th-and-goal with 7 seconds left gave his American Team a 22-19 win over the National Team. He finished with six receptions for 68 yards to cap a week in which he shined in team practices. 

As a senior this past season, Bech earned All-America honors as he became just the fifth player in TCU history to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. His 1,034 yards place fourth at TCU, trailing only first-round NFL Draft picks Josh Doctson (1,327, 2015), Johnston (1,069, 2022) and Reagor (1,061, 2018). Bech's nine touchdown catches and 62 receptions rank fifth and seventh, respectively, and were the most by a Horned Frog since Reagor's 72 grabs and nine scores in 2018.

Bech was one of just five Power Four Conference players to reach 200 receiving yards in a game this season when he had a career-best 200 yards on nine catches against UCF. He totaled a career-high 10 receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-27 win at Kansas. 

Williams is the first TCU player drafted by Green Bay since safety Vernon Scott went in the seventh round in 2020.

Williams was All-Big 12 this past year as he enjoyed a second straight career-best season. He had 60 receptions, 611 yards and six touchdowns. He became the first Horned Frog with a receiving, rushing and passing touchdown in the same year since Kenny Hill in 2017.

Williams led TCU in rushing in four of the final six games, totaling 310 yards and six touchdowns on a 6.5 per carry average in that span. He ran for a career-high 80 yards and two touchdowns in the 49-28 victory over Arizona. The second score was a 20-yard carry on a 4th-and-1 with 13 seconds left in the first half, giving TCU a 21-13 lead at the break.

Williams tied a career-high with 11 receptions for 85 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown on TCU's first series, in the season-opening 34-27 win at Stanford. He had a career-long 75-yard touchdown reception and a career-best 35-yard scoring run in the 35-34 victory over Texas Tech.

The Frogs who signed free-agent contracts or received rookie mini-camp invites are: Abe Camara, safety (Carolina Panthers); Bless Harris, offensive lineman (Las Vegas Raiders); Johnny Hodges, linebacker (Los Angeles Chargers); LaMareon James, cornerback (Cleveland Browns); Brent Matiscik, long-snapper (Cleveland Browns); Cooper McDonald, linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs); NaNa Osafo-Mensah, edge (Seattle Seahawks); and JP Richardson, wide receiver (Chicago Bears). 

TCU wide receiver Jack Bech (#18) makes an acrobatic catch in the Frogs' 49-28 win over the University of Arizona during the 2024 season.   -- Photo by Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

 

 

 

TCU Football to Play North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland, in August 2026

 

Watch a video of the announcement to the TCU football team: here

 

 

The TCU football team will open its 2026 season in Dublin, Ireland, against North Carolina in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

The game will be played on August 29, at the 47,000-capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 

This will be the first time the Horned Frogs, who will serve as the home team, have played abroad. 

TCU will be the first team from Texas to be represented in this unique college football classic.

TCU is more than just a university and this is more than just a game. This moment represents the expanding global reach of the Horned Frog experience — where academic ambition meets competitive spirit. With deep roots in Fort Worth and meaningful connections abroad, TCU is proud to lead on an international stage where learning, leadership and legacy intersect.

“We are extremely honored that TCU has been invited to participate in the 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic,” TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Buddie said. “This is more than just a football game. It’s an opportunity to advance TCU’s brand globally while having our student-athletes experience a unique educational opportunity and memory of a lifetime. We thank Aer Lingus and Irish American Events for our selection and know our fans will travel very well, turning Dublin into a sea of purple.”

TCU’s connection to Ireland is more than symbolic. The university offers international exchanges in Dublin, providing students with academic experiences, including internship opportunities, that reflect the university’s mission to prepare students for global impact.

"This game is a huge opportunity for the Big 12, TCU Football and our entire university to showcase our elite student-athletes and spirited fans on the global stage,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said. “We are honored to be selected for the 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic and look forward to seeing our Horned Frog fans in Dublin."

"Texas Christian University is committed to providing our student-athletes with the best collegiate experience in the country through the most competitive and world-class athletics programs, education, facilities, student support and opportunities for success,” TCU President Daniel W. Pullin said. “The 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic aligns perfectly with those goals, providing our student-athletes with a unique educational and cultural experience abroad and a chance to display their talents internationally."

This is a win for the entire TCU community and the City of Fort Worth. Community engagement is a strategic priority at TCU, and the Aer Lingus Classic provides a global stage to showcase its culture, talent and momentum. It boosts international visibility, strengthens business and tourism ties between Fort Worth and Dublin, and offers partners a reason to invest in its shared future. With global events like the FIFA World Cup coming to campus in 2026, TCU continues to compete — and connect — at the highest levels.

The Aer Lingus College Football Classic aims to bring American college football to Ireland each year to promote Irish-American relations and collaboration, and 2026 will be the fifth consecutive year that college football begins its season with a game in Dublin.  

"We are excited to welcome TCU and North Carolina to Dublin for the 2026 Aer Lingus Classic and offer one-of-a-kind experiences to local and traveling fans," John Anthony, Co-Founder of the Aer Lingus Classic and Executive VP of On Location, said. 

"This compelling matchup promises to deliver another unforgettable start to the college football season in front of a passionate crowd at Aviva Stadium.  We are honored that elite universities like TCU and UNC will continue our tradition to deliver ‘Much More Than a Game’ to their programs and supporters." 

The Horned Frogs and Tar Heels open the 2025 season on Labor Day night, September 1, in Chapel Hill. It will be the only football game, college or NFL, played that day. TCU is one of just two programs nationally to play 11 Power Four Conference opponents this season.

“We will take great pride in representing TCU internationally,” TCU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes said. “With a good number of our players not having traveled overseas, I am most happy for them to have this opportunity and very much appreciate Aer Lingus and Irish American Events making it possible for them as well as all of TCU to share in this experience. It will be special to take the field in Dublin and for our fans to see us on this type of stage in Ireland. We have enjoyed watching past Aer Lingus College Football Classic games, and it’s a true honor for us to now play in it and kick off the 2026 college football season.”

TCU fans can visit the Frogs2Ireland website to learn more about the game and sign up for ticket updates, including official TCU travel and hospitality packages that will become available on May 8. 

"The Aer Lingus College Football Classic is a key pillar in the Irish sporting calendar and plays a unique role in strengthening the ties between Ireland and the United States,” Aer Lingus Chief Executive Lynne Embleton said. “This celebrated event draws tens of thousands of college football fans to Irish shores each year, offering them the chance to support their teams whilst experiencing the unparalleled warmth of Irish hospitality. We look forward to welcoming TCU, the University of North Carolina and their many supporters to Dublin for what promises to be an unforgettable game." 

As title sponsor, Aer Lingus is responsible for transporting the teams and their delegations to Dublin. Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, operates 21 routes from North America direct to Ireland, and seamless connections to Europe for U.S. travelers via its hub at Dublin airport. 

“We are thrilled to have TCU represent the Big 12 Conference in the 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Ireland,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said. “We continue to grow the Big 12 globally, and having our programs compete in an international setting allows us to showcase the Conference across the world.”

The Aer Lingus Classic continues to grow in global stature each year. The sold-out 2024 matchup between Georgia Tech and Florida State drew over 28,400 international visitors from 26 countries. In 2025, Kansas State and Iowa State will open the college football season in Ireland. 

"I welcome the news that TCU and the University of North Carolina have been chosen to play the fifth game in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic series,” Patrick O’Donovan, Irish Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, said. “This event is now a firm fixture in the Irish sporting calendar. It creates a great atmosphere in Dublin for visitors and locals. We look forward to welcoming the teams and their supporters in August 2026.”