Content warning: This story contains references to suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide and needs support now, call or text 988 or chat with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988lifeline.org.
TCU guard Hailey Van Lith has spoken candidly about her mental health journey this NCAA tournament and revealed after a second-round win over a Louisville team she once played for that she'd previously contemplated suicide.
On Monday, after her Horned Frogs were eliminated by Texas in the Elite Eight in her final college game, she opened up about how TCU coach Mark Campbell helped her reach a healthier place.
Van Lith is a decorated player who previously helped lead LSU and Louisville in runs to the Elite Eight and Final Four. She joined TCU this season for her fifth and final year in college and earned Big 12 Player of the Year and third-team All-America honors.
But she's taking much more from her time at TCU than her basketball success.
"It's hard for me to put into words, but my relationship with coach Mark has been a joy for me," Van Lith said. "I'm sure I gave him a lot of headaches throughout the year. He just accepted me for who I was. He took me at face value."
Van Lith then said that Campbell "took a risk" by bringing her into the TCU program and opened up about how Campbell helped her with her mental health.
"He thanks me for coming to the program," Van Lith continued. "But he took a risk on me. He met me with full belief. He had a vision of who I thought I could be. At the beginning, he probably was convincing me that I could be that person. I wasn't necessarily in a place where I knew who I was any more.
"He has just breathed life into me. And from a life perspective, he's taught me a lot of great lessons about how to have healthy relationships and what it takes to have a healthy relationship and how much better life can be if you just let people see who you are. And that's hard for me.
"And so for me to feel comfortable and safe doing that with him, that took a lot of work on his part that he did not have to do. He could have told me to screw off when I was giving him problems. I'm forever grateful for him, and God put him in my life to transform it. And he certainly has done that."
Van Lith then said that she considers herself a part of the TCU family.
"I can't wait to be a TCU alum," she continued. "I can't wait to come back and give back to this program and continue having my relationship with coach. I think he'll be around the rest of my life."
Van Lith spoke through tears as she thanked God for giving her "a hard journey."
"I would not be the woman I am sitting up here without it," she said. "I really praise God for the struggle and the suffering. I praise him for the nights where I didn't want to be alive any more. I praise him for the nights that I was on medication because I couldn't sleep or eat. It's painful to talk about it, but it's really how beautiful life is."
Van Lith initially opened up about her struggles after TCU's March 23 win over Louisville, telling reporters that she had previously considered suicide.
“When I was younger in college, I was suicidal, I was heavily medicated and felt trapped," Van Lith said. "And you would never know it because I was having a ton of success on the court. But internally, and in life in general, I was ready to be done. That’s what I mean when I speak on suffering and pain. I didn’t even want to live.”
Van Lith now has a new perspective on life. Her time as a player at TCU is done. But it's clear that her connection to the program and Campbell will endure.
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