TCU ‘Underfrog’ walk-on Ella Hamlin awarded full scholarship

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  • Dave Wilson, ESPN staff writerJanuary 15, 2025, 2:03 AM ET

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      Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Las Vegas Sun.

Ella Hamlin, one of TCU’s “Underfrogs,” the students who joined the women’s basketball team in January 2024 to save its season, received a full scholarship Tuesday.

A year ago, first-year coach Mark Campbell held open tryouts from TCU students after a series of injuries and a lack of players forced the Horned Frogs to drop 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 chimed in a video of the locker room moment posted to Instagram. “When there is adversity, most people run away from it. The ‘Underfrogs’, adversity hit and you decided to step up.”

Campbell chose a symbolic moment, following a 90-81 win over UCF, nearly a year after Hamlin first joined the team in last season’s Jan. 23 game against the Knights. Circumstances are different this season, with the 18-1 Frogs ranked No. 10 nationally.

An emotional Campbell thanked Hamlin for her role in helping get to this point, beginning by joking with 25 cameras that followed an admittedly nervous Hamlin and her three other volunteer teammates — Sarah Sylvester, Piper Davis and Mekhayia Moore — for the shooting 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 big part of this team.”

The sophomore guard from Granbury, Texas, about 40 miles from Fort Worth, bypassed scholarship offers from small schools to study nursing at TCU, then changed her life and schedule to join the team. TCU estimates annual cost of attendance at $82,310.

This season, she is averaging 2.2 points, but is beloved among her teammates for her work ethic, attitude and energy.

“There is no one more deserving of this than Ella,” TCU star Sedona Prince wrote on Instagram.