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Hailey Van Lith's Father Captures Attention With Wild Reaction in Historic Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Mar 11, 2025 9:34 AM ET

The TCU Horned Frogs did something on Sunday that they'd never accomplished before in their more than four decades of existence. They won the conference championship, beating Baylor to finish off what has been magical season in Fort Worth.

The No. 8-ranked Frogs are 31-3 now, having won 10 straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament, for which they've staked their claim to a No. 1 seed.

Leading the way, as she has done all season, was star guard Hailey Van Lith, who scored 20 points on the day and is averaging 17.9 points on the season.

After the game, Van Lith reacted to the win.

"Honestly, team achievements are such a flex to say that your team is good," Van Lith said. "Anybody can go out and average 20 a game and play on a bad team and never get to the postseason. To say that your team kicks people's butts, that's the ultimate flex."

But in the wake of the win, the lasting image came as much in the stands as it did on the floor. That was because, after Van Lith made a driving basket while slicing through the Baylor defense--with 50 seconds to play, a score that put the Horned Frogs ahead by four points--her father, Corey Van Lith, could not contain his excitement.

Cameras showed Corey Van Lith dancing his way up the aisle at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, slapping high-fives with his fellow TCU fans.

Mr Van Lith be turnt up pic.twitter.com/5Tu3J9LYDn
— SSN Jay-O (@Jay_3shifty) March 10, 2025

Corey Van Lith, who played at the University of Puget Sound, helped shape his daughter's basketball career.

“It’s just been a journey,” Corey Van Lith said last year, speaking about the Paris Olympics. “I think she’s had an incredible career, and her career’s not even close to being over. But this is definitely at the top, and no matter what she does, it will always be at the top.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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