Ella Hamlin, one of TCU's "Underfrogs," the students who joined the women's basketball team in January 2024 to save its season, earned a full scholarship Tuesday.
A year ago, first-year coach Mark Campbell fielded open tryouts from the TCU student body after a series of injuries and a shortage of players forced the Horned Frogs to forfeit two games.
Four students -- who became known as the "Underfrogs" -- joined the team and helped TCU scrap its way to the finish line, as a 14-0 start gave way to a 21-12 finish.
On Tuesday night, Hamlin, the only member of that quartet to return this season, was awarded a full scholarship by Campbell.
"Ella, we're just super grateful for you," Campbell said in a video of the locker room moment posted to Instagram. "When there's adversity, most people run away from it. The 'Underfrogs,' adversity hit, and you guys decided to step up."
Campbell chose a symbolic moment, after a 90-81 win over UCF, almost a year after Hamlin joined the team for the first time in last season's Jan. 23 game against the Knights. The circumstances are different this season, with the 18-1 Frogs ranked No. 10 nationally.
An emotional Campbell thanked Hamlin for her role in helping to get to this point, beginning with joking about 25 cameras that were following an admittedly nervous Hamlin and her three other volunteer teammates -- Sarah Sylvester, Piper Davis and Mekhayia Moore -- for shootaround before their first game.
"I appreciate you, Ella, more than you know," Campbell said. "That game a year ago was the foundation of our program. ... Thank you for stepping up to the plate and coming back and being a huge part of this team."
The sophomore guard from Granbury, Texas, about 40 miles from Fort Worth, bypassed small-school scholarship offers to study nursing at TCU, then upended her life and class schedule to join the team. This season, she is averaging 2.2 points but is beloved among her teammates for her work ethic, attitude and energy.
"There's no one else more deserving of this than Ella," TCU star Sedona Prince wrote on Instagram.