Mark Campbell continues to climb the women’s basketball coaching ranks.

The former University of Hawaii point guard parlayed a dramatic two-year turnaround at Sacramento State into a Power Five conference opportunity as he was announced as Texas Christian University’s program leader on Tuesday.

Campbell, a longtime women’s hoops assistant at Oregon and Oregon State, got his first head coaching opportunity at Sacramento State of the Big Sky Conference in 2021-22. He took a team that went 3-22 the year before and won 14 games, setting up the best season in program history in Year 2 of his tenure.

The Hornets won a program-record 25 games, claimed the Big Sky championship and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Sac State, a 13 seed, lost to 4 seed UCLA 67-45 on Saturday.

It was still plenty to attract the attention of a Big 12 program in need of new leadership. In Fort Worth, Campbell will work across the hall from Horned Frogs men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon, a former UH assistant coach under Riley Wallace.

"I'm very excited to be a TCU Horned Frog," Campbell said. "It's an honor to serve as its women's basketball head coach. TCU is a special place with unbelievable people. With its facilities, location and support, everything is in place for us to be successful and continue the momentum you see across the board from all of TCU's sports programs.

“I'm committed to providing the best student-athlete experience, building a championship culture and leading a women's basketball program that makes TCU proud. I would like to thank Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati, Deputy Athletics Director Mike Sinquefield and Senior Associate Athletics Director Kim Johnson for this amazing opportunity. My family and I cannot wait to make TCU and Fort Worth our home."

At Oregon, Campbell recruited and coached several future WNBA players, most notably Sabrina Ionescu, who became the NCAA women’s player of the year and a No. 1 WNBA draft pick.

"Mark is an elite recruiter and program builder who has taken part in two of the nation's most remarkable women's basketball turnarounds,” stated Donati, referring to Campbell’s stints at Sac State and Oregon. “His vision for women's basketball at TCU mirrors the high expectations we have for all our sports to be successful and compete on the national level. Mark is the perfect fit for us and will be an outstanding member of our campus and Fort Worth communities."

Campbell, who came to UH out of Clackamas (Ore.) Community College, was the point guard for the 2001-02 team that was the winningest in program history at 27-6 until the 2015-16 squad won 28. He also helped UH to an NIT appearance in 2002-03.

 

Lado joins 2 others in transfer portal

 

A third member of the UH men’s basketball 2022-23 team has entered the transfer portal.

Guard Amoro Lado, who missed most of the season with an injury, announced his decision on Tuesday. He joins two other reserves — guard Justus Jackson and wing Zoar Nedd — in the portal to seek a new college team.

The 6-foot-2 Lado, a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, appeared sparingly in nine games this season. He was unable to replicate his instant offense off the bench in his first UH season of 2021-22, going 3-for-14 from the field, including 0-for-6 on 3-pointers.

Lado thanked the Hawaii program and community on his way out.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.