Menu

Author Archives: Corey Smith

1. Horned Frog Foodies: Andrew de la Torre

   April 3, 2026 7:59 am Leave a Comment

    

   In this series, TCU Magazine visits with alumni in the food and beverage industry. Send recommendations to tcumagazine@tcu.edu 

   ---

   A decade ago, when Andrew de la Torre ’01 was running La Perla, a cocktail bar and restaurant in downtown Fort Worth, he fielded visits from tequila brand ambassadors selling underwhelming examples of the Mexican spirit. In 2023, together with Sarah Castillo and Stephen Slaughter, de la Torre launched La Pulga Spirits, a line of additive-free tequila, mezcal and sotol with ingredients sourced directly from Mexico. La Pulga translates to “the flea,” a nod to another de la Torre project — Pequeño Mexico flea market, of which he is the longtime managing partner, on Fort Worth’s Northside. La Pulga Spirits is centered on two core missions: bringing people together and representing Mexican culture. Now expanding across the U.S., the brand has released two special-edition Horned Frog-themed tequila bottles.

   

   La Pulga Spirits released its second limited-edition TCU tequila bottle in 2025. Courtesy of La Pulga Spirits

   You studied advertising and public relations at TCU. Which lessons did you take into professional life?

   What my college experience there taught me is that I could do anything if I set my mind to it — no matter what it is, just put my head down, work hard. Also just being exposed to people from different parts of the world that have wide-ranging talents.

   In addition to La Perla, you owned and operated Embargo, a Cuban-themed nightclub. What inspired you to get into the food and drink industry?

   My grandfather, he’s from Torreon, Mexico, and he put my dad and siblings through college flipping burgers. I’d grown up going to his restaurant, called Charlie Burgers after him. I am comfortable in those environments because it’s about service and hospitality and interacting with people. What truly inspired me to do my own thing — my mom had brought a coffee table book from Cuba, and I was just looking through this book and I was like, man, Fort Worth could use like a place like this, just drenched in color, full of heart and soul. 

   What did you learn about tequila during that time?

   La Perla specialized in tequila and ceviche. All these reps and salespeople and even owners of these brands were coming through and trying to sell us on spirits that they had no idea about. They didn’t know what region of Mexico, they didn’t know what the NOM [Norma Oficial Mexicana, a number that indicates the distillery] was. Sarah Castillo and I realized that there was a gap of people doing really high-quality, additive-free, celebrity-free tequila. She and I both are of Mexican descent, so we wanted to do something that was representative of what tequila and Mexican spirits are. We knew if we put that quality and heart and soul in the bottle, everything else would kind of take care of itself.

   The biggest part is doing a traditional style tequila that’s just got agave, yeast and water — nothing else. It’s very clean. All of our spirits are winning awards. Hats off to our distiller — 1068 is our distilling partner. They have a very high standard for quality and they do not cut corners and that really shows. When you drink La Pulga, it is smooth; the flavors of the actual agave, they sing.

   

   Pequeño Mexico, the Fort Worth Northside flea market de la Torre manages, inspired La Pulga’s name. Courtesy of La Pulga Spirits

   What are some of your favorite moments from running La Pulga?

   I waited tables at Joe T’s to help put myself through TCU. Giving Lanny Paul Lancarte, one of the owners there, one of the first bottles because it has his initials on the top, LP — that was a good moment for us. Also, when people send pictures from other parts of the world, especially on a military base, in a random bar in Rhode Island or Connecticut or Tennessee or Oklahoma, those are all really cool moments.

   In addition to running La Pulga and Pequeño Mexico, you also work in sales and development for Empire Roofing. How do you recharge?

   I’m a workaholic. Traveling with my family is my sweet spot. And watching Judge Judy. I also love people-watching. My wife is my backbone; she’s tremendously supportive of everything I do. She definitely is the biggest reason I can work this much. Spending time with her and my three kids, traveling anywhere, is how I relax and decompress.

   Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

2. TCU vs. South Carolina Preview: Horned Frogs Seek Historic Final Four Berth

   March 30, 2026 12:01 pm Leave a Comment

   When former TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati hired Mark Campbell away from Sacramento State in the spring of 2023, he handed over the keys to a program that had won three Big 12 games over the previous two seasons. On Monday night at the Golden 1 Center, in the very city where Campbell’s head coaching career began, those two men will be in the arena on opposite sides: Donati, now the athletic director at South Carolina, and Campbell, 40 minutes from his program’s first Final Four.

   Now comes the clearest measure yet of how far TCU has come. Third-seeded TCU (32-5) faces No. 1 South Carolina (34-3), with the Big 12’s first women’s Final Four berth since 2019 on the line. The last time these programs met, in December 2024 at Dickies Arena, the Gamecocks turned a 21-point halftime lead into a 33-point win — the most lopsided defeat of the Campbell era. 

   TCU has gone 57-8 since that night, won two conference titles and built the case, brick by brick, that it won’t happen like that again. Campbell said the past year has sharpened his understanding of what it takes to challenge the sport’s blue bloods. “This is what they do every single year.”

   

   Stretch forward Marta Suárez posted a career-high 33 points to lead TCU past No. 10-seeded Virginia in Saturday’s Sweet 16 clash. The graduate student leads the Horned Frogs in scoring over the past 12 games. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   What TCU brings to Monday’s game is a roster built around one of the most dynamic players in the tournament. Graduate guard Olivia Miles, averaging 19.3 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists through three rounds, is one of only three players in NCAA history to record multiple triple-doubles in NCAA Tournament play.

   She notched her 900th career assist in Saturday’s win over Virginia, reached 246 assists on the season to break her own single-season record and entered Monday needing just one more win to give TCU its first Elite Eight victory. Campbell’s sense of wonder at her gifts has not dimmed. “Male or female,” he said. “There’s like half a dozen people in the world that have her vision, that can process it that quickly, that can throw a one-handed bounce pass to the opposite corner, off the dribble, on a laser, and then do it with her left hand.” 

   “I feel like I’ve blossomed as a scorer,” Miles told reporters Sunday, crediting teammates who space the floor and post players who free her with screens. “It’s allowed me to read different situations and be aggressive.” 

   Miles may spend much of the night tracking Raven Johnson, the Gamecocks’ only active returning starter from the teams’ 2024 matchup. Johnson is the engine of a South Carolina offense that pairs three veteran guards — Campbell called the trio “as good as anybody in college basketball” — with post players who can punish you at the rim or step out to 17 feet. “They have five players on any given night,” Campbell said, “that can really, really hurt you.”

   Raven Johnson’s Gamecock backcourt mates Ta’Niya Latson and Tessa Johnson each average scoring totals in double figures, while sophomore forward and second-team All-American Joyce Edwards goes for 19.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

   Graduate forward Marta Suárez, who set TCU’s tournament records for points (33) and made field goals in a single game against Virginia, will need to be one of the primary answers. Suárez has led TCU in scoring over the past dozen games, and she and Miles scored or assisted on all 79 Horned Frog points in the Sweet 16. “I think she’s just, it’s a different talent,” Suárez said of Miles, the player who makes everyone around her better. Miles returned the sentiment: “She’s enabled me to go out there and play the best version of me.” 

   

   Sophomore center Clara Silva is peaking in March, posting 37 points, 27 rebounds and nine blocks across three NCAA Tournament games. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Key, too, will be junior guard Donovyn Hunter and senior guard Taylor Bigby, veterans who have averaged close to 40 minutes per game in the tournament, with Bigby compiling a career-high 27 points in the opening round. 

   Campbell will also need sophomore center Clara Silva, who’s averaged better than 12 points and nine rebounds for the tournament, to hold her own inside against one of the deepest frontcourts in the country. “Rebounding against South Carolina, you have to be able to battle them on the boards,” he said. “Their post players are some of the best posts in college basketball.” 

   Tip-off is at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. 

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

3. Full Circle: TCU Women’s Basketball Returns to Sacramento for Sweet 16 Showdown with Virginia

   March 27, 2026 12:33 pm Leave a Comment

   “The Nest” is what they call the gym at Sacramento State. Mark Campbell, then a first-time head coach, spent two seasons there learning what it takes to build something special. On Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CT, Campbell and his TCU Horned Frogs return to California’s capital for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, this time with more at stake.

   The “full circle moment” Campbell describes in returning to Sacramento is more spiral than loop. The program Campbell inherited at TCU in 2023 had managed 24 wins over the previous three seasons. The team that touched down in California on Wednesday carries a 31-5 record and the ambitions of a program that has now posted back-to-back 30-win seasons, a distinction shared with only a handful of programs nationally, almost all of which are still playing. TCU has reached the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year, and just the second time in program history.

   

   Mark Campbell left Sacramento as Big Sky Coach of the Year. He returns three years later with a 31-5 Horned Frogs team and an Elite Eight ticket on the line. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Standing between TCU and another Elite Eight berth is No. 10 seed Virginia, one of the most improbable Sweet 16 participants of all time. The Cavaliers entered the tournament through the First Four, then won three games in five days — a 57-55 play-in victory over Arizona State, followed by an overtime win over No. 7 seed Georgia and a shocking double-overtime takedown of Iowa — before moving on. TCU’s sophomore center Clara Silva caught the film session and came away with respect. “I think they have really good guards,” she said. “We watched the game yesterday against Iowa. They fight and fight until the end.”

   Campbell isn’t selling the Cavaliers short, either. “Virginia’s an elite basketball team that’s playing really good, and they have a star at their point guard position. She’s, right now, playing as well as anybody in the country.” That star, Kymora Johnson, has averaged 24.3 points per game across the Cavaliers’ three tournament outings. She presents a challenge, but not a profile the Frogs find unfamiliar. “Olivia Miles will get you ready to play an elite playmaking guard,” Campbell said of his team getting reps against the three-time All-American every practice for the past seven months.

   Miles has been extraordinary. The Big 12 Player of the Year has accumulated a combined 30 points, 26 rebounds and 22 assists across TCU’s first two tournament wins, a statistical run that has little precedent in NCAA Tournament history. She enters Saturday needing just two points to reach 700 for the season. In the Big Dance, she is a different player: Through eight career tournament appearances, she has averaged 8.3 assists and more than seven rebounds per game alongside her scoring.

   But what makes this TCU team genuinely dangerous is that it doesn’t require Miles to shoulder the load single-handedly.

   Silva’s development is the season’s quietest revelation. Campbell called Sunday’s overtime survival against Washington the best game of her career; she hit the go-ahead basket twice on her way to 16 points and eight boards, adding a pair of blocks. “I’m really thankful that I get to be part of this journey,” said the Kentucky transfer, who last year helped the Wildcats reach the tournament’s second round.

   

   Taylor Bigby is among the eight seniors and graduate students on the Horned Frogs’ roster. The 6-foot-1 guard has scored 42 points over the past pair of outings, her most over a two-game stretch all season. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Senior guard Taylor Bigby has been equally transformed. Shooting better than 55 percent from three-point range across 11 career tournament games, she erupted for a program-record 27 in the opening round against UC San Diego and added 15 against Washington. She is not interested in tempering expectations. “I feel like my confidence has grown a lot, and it’s at a high right now,” she said. “I don’t plan on coming down.”

   For Bigby, the stakes need no inflation. “It means a lot, and I mean, at the end of the day, too, like, it’s also my last year. … The goal is to always be dancing in March, so to still be dancing is a blessing, and I’m just super excited, and I’m proud of my team.”

   Campbell has shaped this roster into a group that refuses to lose close games. They trailed by eight at halftime against Washington, fell behind Big 12 heavyweights Iowa State and West Virginia in the final quarter during the regular season and found a way through. “There’s been a lot of close games that we had to grind out and find a way to win,” he said. “This team, they’re gritty, they’re tough, they’re a bunch of old vets.”

   The Horned Frogs hold opponents to 33.4 percent from the floor — best among all Division I programs — and their frontcourt size, anchored by the Silva-Kennedy Basham duo, makes them uniquely difficult to attack at the rim.

   At the Golden 1 Center on Saturday night, Bigby, Basham and a senior-laden Frogs squad will try to keep dancing.

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

4. Survive and Advance: TCU Women’s Basketball Bests Washington in Overtime, Heads to Sweet 16

   March 23, 2026 11:36 am Leave a Comment

   TCU outlasted Washington, 62-59, in overtime. Next stop: Sacramento.

   Near the end of 45 grueling minutes, Washington’s freshman forward Brynn McGaughy corralled the inbound pass, pivoted on her left foot while surveying her options, then found her team’s top scorer, junior guard Sayvia Sellers, at the arc.

   Sellers had an open look for a three. She caught, set and fired. One last breath. The ball bounced off the back rim and high into the air.

   It hung there for a moment, then came down, tipped away by TCU’s Clara Silva as the final decimals faded from the clock.

   What followed was more collective exhale than celebration.

   

   The Horned Frogs rallied from a 27-19 halftime deficit to defeat six-seeded Washington in overtime Sunday, advancing to the program’s second Sweet 16 in as many seasons. Photo by Percise Windom

   Trailing by eight at halftime and shooting 26 percent from the field, the Horned Frogs clawed back one possession at a time, briefly pushing ahead in the fourth quarter and finally breaking loose with a 7-0 overtime-opening run en route to punching their ticket to the Sweet 16.

   “That was just a gritty, resilient game,” head coach Mark Campbell said. “We were down the whole time. They just stayed in the fight.”

   The night belonged to Silva. The sophomore center finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks, anchoring a defense that held Washington to 35 percent shooting for the game.

   TCU’s All-American guard Olivia Miles, who went 2-of-11 from the field in the first half, was a different player after the break, when she was 7-of-13.

   At halftime, Miles had already steadied her teammates before Campbell said a word. “I just was telling them, ‘They’re not gonna give it to us. This is what March is about.’ ”

   When play resumed, Miles attacked the paint, created opportunities for others and finished just short of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and game-high eight assists.

   TCU’s Taylor Bigby, a senior guard who spent much of the night chasing the Huskies’ Avery Howell through screens, hit the shot that may have won it — a three-pointer early in overtime that pushed the lead to five and took the air out of Washington’s rally. “I took it really personal going into the second half,” Bigby said of her defensive assignment “I knew that’s what my team needed in order for us to win.”

   TCU forward Marta Suárez, playing with four fouls for most of the second half, said she refused to play tentatively. “It was a very tight game.”

   

   Newly named Big 12 Player of the Year Olivia Miles finished just two assists shy of a second consecutive triple-double during Sunday’s comeback win over Washington. Photo by Percise Windom

   Miles said the win was far from easy. “I was crashing out multiple times. I was angry, I was feeling all the emotions because I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to let my team down.”

   As she walked toward the handshake line after the final buzzer sounded, Miles blew kisses and flashed heart hands to the Schollmaier crowd. For Bigby, who, like Miles, played her final collegiate game in Fort Worth, the moment was special. “It’s a blessing,” she said. “My teammates, my coaches, I wouldn’t be here without them and the confidence they instill in me. There’s no other way to go out with my last games here at the Scholl. It’s definitely gonna be something I remember.”

   Now TCU heads to California’s capital, where the 31-5 Horned Frogs will face No. 2 seed Iowa or No. 10-seeded Virginia on Thursday or Friday at the Golden 1 Center, in the city where Campbell spent two seasons leading Sacramento State. “To take a program that’s 1-17 and get back to the Sweet 16,” Campbell said of the turnaround from a one-win Big 12 season in 2022-23, “it’s happened two times in the history of our school. And that was last year and this year. … I’m thankful we get another 40 minutes together. We get another week together.”

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

5. “Forty Minutes”: TCU Women’s Basketball Routs UC San Diego to Open NCAA Tournament, Sets Sights on Washington

   March 21, 2026 9:38 am Leave a Comment

   Forty minutes. That’s all head coach Mark Campbell promised his team. So he put the number on their jerseys — front and back, in practice all week — and let it do the talking. 

   On Friday morning at Schollmaier Arena, TCU made every one of those minutes count, routing UC San Diego 86-40 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In what Campbell would call her best game as a Horned Frog, three-time All-American Olivia Miles delivered her sixth triple-double this season — 12 points, 14 assists and a career-high 16 rebounds — becoming the first player in NCAA history to record at least 14 rebounds and 14 assists in a tournament game. For good measure, she pulled even with former Horned Frog Hailey Van Lith atop the program’s single-season scoring list, finishing with 680 points.

   Senior guard Taylor Bigby torched the Tritons for a career-high 27 points on 7-of-9 shooting from three. TCU never trailed. The result pushed TCU to a 43rd straight home win, the longest streak in the country, and kept the program perfect at Schollmaier Arena in postseason play at 11-0.

   

   Taylor Bigby went 7-for-9 from three-point range en route to a career-high 27 points during TCU’s 86-40 win against UC San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   The tone was set before UCSD could catch its breath. Graduate forward Marta Suárez went 3-for-3 from three-point range in the opening quarter, hitting from 23, 25 and 24 feet, as TCU bolted to a 24-12 lead after the first period. The Horned Frogs shot 50 percent from three for the game, finishing 13-of-26 from deep.

   Then came Bigby. In a second quarter that put the game away, she erupted for four consecutive three-pointers, three of them fed by Miles, extending TCU’s lead to 29. When her fourth straight three dropped through the net, her teammates sprinted to half court to meet her. She finished 8-of-10 from the field.

   “Seeing Taylor in the gym every day, working on those shots, those very shots,” Miles said, “to see it come out when it actually matters, you can’t help but be happy for that person.”

   Campbell called it earned. “It’s been two years now. … Her teammates have seen her grind, and she’s amazing. Her and Dono [Donovyn Hunter] are the backbone and the staples of the last two years.”

   Miles, meanwhile, wasn’t playing for the box score. “I literally told Mark, I was like, ‘If I go out there and I have zero points and 20 assists, I’ll be just as happy,’ ” she said. “That’s just what I love to do.” But then: “Once I heard that I had 10 rebounds early on, I was like, ‘Okay. I have to complete it now.’ ”

   She did. “To break our all-time single-game assist record while having a triple-double during March Madness,” Campbell said. “Holy cow.”

   

   Olivia Miles’ historic triple-double Friday included 12 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 14 assists. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Miles set the physical tone from the opening tip. “I promised myself that I’d help my team out in any way that I can, and I know that it starts with me,” she said.

   The defensive wall TCU erected was equally formidable. Sophomore center Clara Silva and senior center Kennedy Basham combined for five blocks, anchoring a scheme built around the program’s extraordinary length. “Those two have become just an incredible two-headed monster,” Campbell said. “When you have two 6-7 kids like that, it’s really hard to score over them.” Campbell believes that size advantage only grows in March. “You got to defend and rebound to win,” he said.

   Also Friday, Washington defeated South Dakota State 72-54 in the first round. Guard Avery Howell connected on 7-of-13 three-point attempts for a game-high 30 points. The Huskies will face TCU on Sunday at Schollmaier Arena at 9 p.m. CT. 

   For Miles and Suárez, playing out their final seasons in Fort Worth, Sunday’s matchup will be their last chance to suit up at Schollmaier — a TCU victory would send the Horned Frogs to Sacramento for the next two rounds. “That’s 40 down,” Campbell said. “We got 40 left.” 

   “We haven’t put together a full 40 minutes of TCU basketball this season,” Miles said, “and even though Mark may say we did today, I do think there’s a whole other level we can get to.” 

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

6. TCU Women’s Basketball Has Turned Schollmaier Into a March Madness Destination. Now the Frogs Want More

   March 16, 2026 3:36 pm Leave a Comment

   TCU women’s basketball is going dancing again, and once again, it is doing it at home. 

   When the bracket was unveiled Sunday, 14th-ranked TCU learned it had been awarded a No. 3 national seed, the second-highest in program history, and earned hosting rights for the opening two rounds of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. The occasion marks TCU’s 11th appearance in the Big Dance and, more significantly, the program’s second in a row, the first time the Horned Frogs have strung together consecutive berths since 2009 and 2010. 

   

   TCU’s Schollmaier Arena, which hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2025, will do so again in 2026 after the Horned Frogs earned a No. 3 seed. Courtesy of TCU Athletics | Zach Campbell

   “Anyone that gets the chance to play in March knows the advantage that you have playing at your home site,” said junior guard Donovyn Hunter. “The fans, the community, they all showed up for us last year. So, I’m super excited that we’re able to do it again. Obviously, it’s a testament to the work that our team has done.” 

   The Horned Frogs (29-5, 15-3 Big 12) will open the tournament Friday at Schollmaier Arena against No. 14 seed UC San Diego (24-8, 17-3 Big West). Last year’s TCU squad was a No. 2 seed and reached the Elite Eight, the program’s first trip to the second weekend of March Madness. This year, the women returned, and brought the men’s program along for the ride, the first time in school history both teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the same season. 

   Nothing about that was accidental. 

   “Over the course of 34 games, we put together a résumé that the committee felt we were worthy of hosting,” said head coach Mark Campbell. “That’s really, really hard to do. And it was one of those things that in June, we set as a team goal. And this group has been chasing that this whole year.” 

   With a win in Round 1, TCU would become one of six programs nationally to have assembled back-to-back 30-win seasons, joining No. 1 seeds UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina, plus Fairleigh Dickinson, whom the Frogs defeated in the first round of last season’s tournament. Since the current coaching staff arrived in March of 2023, the Horned Frogs have accumulated 84 victories, seventh-most in the country over that stretch, and rank fifth nationally in both win percentage (.875) and total wins (63) across the past two seasons. They enter the tournament as the only program in the 68-team field to have claimed consecutive outright Power Conference regular-season titles.

   

   Cal transfer Marta Suárez is averaging a career-high 17.2 points per game in her first season with the Frogs. The stretch forward and 2026 all-conference first-teamer is among the newcomers who’ve helped push TCU to the brink of a second consecutive 30-win campaign. Courtesy of TCU Athletics | Amanda Transou

   “Elite programs are consistent,” Campbell said. “And so, for us to do this … I think it shows how special TCU is, our athletic department, and our staff’s ability to build these teams, really from scratch.” 

   Despite a heavy roster overhaul from the 2024-25 team, nine players on this year’s roster have NCAA Tournament experience, combining for 37 appearances across their careers. 

   That veteran presence matters in a month when every possession carries heightened weight.

   “It’s just an aspect of desperation,” said graduate guard and recently named Big 12 Player of the Year Olivia Miles. “You know your season’s on the line, your journey’s on the line with a group of people you really care about. So, that’s the difference between March and the regular season. It ultimately just comes down to preparation and detail-driven focus. That’s kind of what the margin of error is, and how slim it is, that decides these games.”

   Friday’s opener, set for an 11 a.m. CST tipoff, presents a genuine test. UC San Diego’s Erin Condron, who has spent all three of her college seasons with the Tritons in an era when that kind of constancy is increasingly rare, is one of the more complete players in the bracket, the 6-foot-4 junior forward leading the Tritons in scoring at 15.7 points per game, rebounding at 8.6 per game and blocks at 1.3 per game while converting 53.6 percent of her field goal attempts. Senior guard Makayla Rose adds 12.8 points and a team-high 3.2 steals per game. 

   A TCU victory would set up a Sunday matchup at Schollmaier against the winner of No. 6 Washington and No. 11 South Dakota State. The Huskies, last year making only their second NCAA Tournament since 2017, are anchored by guards Sayvia Sellers, who averages 18.5 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Avery Howell, who contributes 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. South Dakota State counters with senior forward Brooklyn Meyer, a three-time All-Summit player for the Jackrabbits, who leads her team in scoring at 22.4 points per game, rebounds at 8.0, assists at 2.7 and blocks at 1.9 while shooting 64.6 percent from the floor.

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

7. TCU’s Jack Bell on Transferring from Texas A&M and Life After Baseball

   1:59 pm Leave a Comment

   TCU infielder Jack Bell made an immediate impact for the Frogs last year, hitting a grand slam in his first at-bat in purple. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native was particularly good in the 2025 Big 12 Tournament, earning All-Tournament Team honors.

   Bell is a third baseman who has the versatility to play all of the infield positions. He appeared in 55 games in his first season with the Frogs, hitting .259 with a .376 on-base percentage and slugging .453. Bell swatted five home runs as part of his 14 total extra-base hits last season. 

   TCU Magazine sat down with Bell to talk about his move from College Station to Cowtown, his unforgettable first at bat and why he wants to be a baseball agent. 

   

   Infielder Jack Bell earned All-Big 12 Tournament honors in his first season as a Horned Frog in 2025. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   How did you get into baseball? 

   I don’t really come from a baseball family. I began playing at the age of 3. I had a great support system growing up. When I was 5, I started playing travel ball. I took it seriously enough that I played all the way through high school, played my freshman year of college at Texas A&M and then transferred over here last season. It was the best decision of my life coming to TCU.

   You appeared in 19 games in your freshman season at Texas A&M, hitting .250 while drawing eight walks to just five strikeouts. How was the transition of playing under Jim Schlossnagle — who previously coached at TCU — to eventually coming to Fort Worth yourself?

   After we lost the national championship game, our coach left to go to Texas. As soon as that happened, I entered the portal, and TCU was one of my first calls. I stepped on campus here, and I knew it was home.

   Last season, you recorded six hits and five RBIs in the Big 12 Tournament. How do you take that experience in a playoff environment and carry it into this season?

   It’s all about confidence. The coaches have confidence in me, and I have confidence in them. That allows me to go out there and play freely. So, rolling into my junior year, I’m a veteran now. I’m confident in myself; I’m relaxed. I know what’s going on. I don’t feel like the game is sped up anymore, and so I’m just having fun. 

   In the opening series last year against San Diego, you came to the plate with the bases loaded. What was it like having your first-ever at-bat for the Frogs to be a pinch-hit grand slam?

   It was surreal. I saw the fastball low and away and knew I was going to be able to put a good swing on it, and watched it fly over the left-centerfield wall.

   

   Bell, a communication studies major, hopes to parlay his TCU education into a career as a sports agent after his playing days are done. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   What are your plans for the future after baseball at TCU?

   I hope to get my name called in the MLB Draft, but you never know. So, outside of that, I’d want to be an agent. I love baseball and would love to help players get better and reach their full potential.  

   What will this year’s TCU team emphasize to reach its goals?

   A lot of things, but I think it comes down to simply playing winning baseball. It’s as simple as our pitchers throwing strikes, our hitters hitting the strikes, and taking the balls. Going out there trying to play winning baseball is the most important thing we can do.  

   Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

   — Grant Harris

8. Horned Frog Hardball Q&A: Senior Cole Cramer Talks Consistency and Clubhouse Culture

   March 2, 2026 12:30 pm Leave a Comment

   Cole Cramer, second baseman for the TCU Horned Frogs, has been a steady presence in the lineup and the clubhouse since transferring from Washington State in 2024. From a junior college field in Oregon to All-Pac-12 recognition in 2024, Cramer has now carved out his place as the reliable leadoff batter for Frogball.  

   Starting all 59 games in his first season at TCU, he drew the most walks on the team and hit .320 on the year with 14 extra-base hits. He earned 2025 Big 12 All-Tournament Team honors for his postseason performance.  

   Now he’s a senior and a leader in the clubhouse.

   TCU Magazine spoke to Cramer about his journey from Arlington, Wash. to Fort Worth, the grind of a 60-game season and his mentorship of the young 2026 Horned Frog roster.

   You spent your entire life living in the Pacific Northwest before coming to TCU. How was that transition?

   It was really smooth; it is a lot different over here, a different lifestyle. I love the weather. Growing up and playing baseball when it’s 32 degrees out, I appreciate coming to the field in the middle of February when it’s 75 and sunny.

   

   Cole Cramer was sold on TCU after coming to campus as a visiting player in 2024. “When you’re playing a midweek game on a Tuesday, and you show up and there’s 5,000 people in a place that’s rocking, that’s really cool.” Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   What was something about TCU that made you want to transfer here?

   When I was at Washington State, we played TCU in a midweek game, and they sold out. I remember coming down thinking this place is really cool. When you’re playing a midweek game on a Tuesday, and you show up and there’s 5,000 people in a place that’s rocking, that’s really cool. You’re like, “Man I want to go play at a place where they get a bunch of fans to come to games and the people are passionate about baseball.”

   You’re the only returning starter to play all 59 games last season. How do you maintain that level of consistency both physically and mentally throughout the season?

   Just staying consistent with the habits. Getting in the training room, doing what you have to do in lift and just not trying to overdo things. If something’s not feeling great, make sure you get in treatment to get it worked on. The more you play, the more you get used to it.

   Those first couple weeks usually are the toughest. I think we do a good job in the fall and this early spring of really playing a lot of baseball so you can get used to that. Once you get back into the swing of things by that third or fourth week you can get your legs back under you, and it’s pretty smooth from there.

   You led the team in walks last year with 43. Is that patient approach something that comes naturally, or is that something you’ve had to develop over your years of college baseball?

   When I was in junior college, I was like, “How quickly can I see the first pitch, or how quickly can I get on base?” As I’ve developed more as a hitter, I’ve learned that if we can make that guy on the mound work more and I can have a long at bat and we can get the pitchers out early, that can help us not only in that game but help us in the rest of the weekend series.

   In my book, a walk is a hit. I know what my role is: There are bigger dudes who hit balls a little farther than me that hit behind me, so if I can get on base for those guys, I can let them do their job.

   

   Cramer notched career hit No. 150 during a 20-1 win over New Haven on March 1. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Off the field, what do you do to rewind and reset throughout a long season?

   I have great teammates. If I’m not on the field, I’m with them. We play a lot of golf, we mix in some fishing, we go play basketball. Friendly competition keeps us busy. We go to the football games. We went to the basketball game against Iowa State. Soccer in the fall is very fun; we go to quite a few soccer games. Just being able to support other athletes is really cool. I enjoy watching all the other sports. Looking back, I would love to be a soccer player. I’d also love to be a football player, but I chose baseball, and I’m glad I did.

   You’re one of the veterans on this team. How has your role in the clubhouse changed?

   Last year it was tough being a transfer and trying to play a vocal role, but you slowly work your way into it. Being in my fifth year, I’ve played enough college games to pick up on little cues from the other team. I always try to be a vocal leader for the guys and lead by example.

   Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

   — As told to Grant Harris

9. TCU Women’s Basketball Clinches Share of Big 12 Regular-Season Title, Sets Sights on Finale Against Baylor

   February 27, 2026 2:14 pm Leave a Comment

   Buoyed by five consecutive Big 12 wins, the Horned Frogs are rediscovering their rhythm at the right time because the NCAA Tournament is less than three weeks away. 

   Following road losses to No. 20 Texas Tech and Colorado on Feb. 1 and 8, 11th-ranked TCU has knocked off a pair of top-20 opponents in Baylor and West Virginia, winning by an average of 13.4 points per game.

   

   Olivia Miles recorded her 11th career triple-double in a Feb. 22 home win over Iowa State, now ranking third all-time in NCAA women’s basketball history. Only Sabrina Ionescu (23) and Caitlin Clark (17) have more. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   At Schollmaier Arena last Sunday, Olivia Miles delivered a heroic fourth quarter, pouring in 17 points to rally TCU from a 13-point deficit and past Iowa State 80-73, marking the Frogs’ 41st consecutive victory when reaching the 80-point mark. The defense did its part, too, holding the Cyclones’ All-American center Audi Crooks to four points in the final frame before she fouled out. 

   Three days later in Cincinnati, TCU was trailing by six at halftime. Marta Suárez — who closed the game with a career-high 32 points, 26 of which came after the break — helped ignite a 60-point second-half eruption, and the Frogs pulled away 83-70 to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title going into Sunday’s finale against 18th-ranked Baylor. 

   “To win another league title, I’m so proud of this group,” Campbell said. “They’ve been grinding for the last nine months. Had this goal since June, and today we accomplished that. And we still got one more really big game coming up on Sunday.” 

   The milestone was worth savoring. With the clinch, TCU became the first program in Big 12 history to win back-to-back regular-season championships within three seasons of finishing last in the conference — and the first in the school’s 49-year women’s basketball existence to claim consecutive league titles of any kind.

   The history isn’t lost on Campbell. 

   “It shows you what we’re building is special, that the way we’re doing this is elite. Last year wasn’t a fluke,” he said of TCU’s 2025 Elite Eight run. “The players have changed, but the standard’s the same.” 

   Lights, Camera, Baylor

   ESPN’s College GameDay will be coming to Fort Worth, with the live broadcast set to kick off from Schollmaier Arena at 10 a.m. Sunday. Both TCU and Baylor are first-timers on the nationally televised pregame show, and the stakes couldn’t be much higher: an undisputed Big 12 title on the line, senior night and an NCAA-leading 41-game home winning streak to protect.

   Baylor will roll into Fort Worth winners of five of its last seven, with both losses over that stretch against ranked opponents, at Texas Tech on Feb. 18 and at home against the Frogs on Feb. 12. 

   Scoring has been balanced for the Bears, with four different players reaching double figures in recent wins over Arizona and Kansas State. 

   

   The Frogs picked up an 83-67 win at Baylor the last time the rivals met on Feb. 12. TCU has taken the last four games in the series. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

   Taliah Scott is the clear go-to player for Baylor on the offensive end; the junior guard’s 20.3 points per game is almost twice as many as the team’s second-leading scorer and second in the conference behind only Crooks’s 25.1. A prolific scorer since Day 1 of her college career, Scott has been held to single digits just four times in 52 games. 

   Otherwise, the Bears will rely heavily on graduate guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, a National Champion from her time at Stanford whose 6.4 assists per game lead the team, and senior guard-forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, whose 10.2 rebounds per game are nearly two more than any other player in the Big 12. 

   It’s a formidable group for TCU to close out against, and, from Campbell’s perspective, exactly the kind of opponent and occasion this program deserves. 

   “The stage and how everything’s unfolded, where Baylor happens to be Baylor and there’s a league title that we’re playing for. And we have seven incredible seniors that get to play at the Scholl one last time, and so, you know, the script couldn’t be any better.”

   — Corey Zapata-Smith

10. Horned Frog Foodies: Molly Wilkinson

    12:32 pm Leave a Comment

    In this series, TCU Magazine visits with alumni in the food and beverage industry. Send recommendations to tcumagazine@tcu.edu 

    ---

    Molly Wilkinson ’09 once considered baking to be a fun hobby — until she completed her pastry studies at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and made it her career. Today, she owns and operates Molly J. Wilk Pastry, where she offers baking classes in person, live online and through video tutorials from her home base in Versailles, France. Wilkinson also spends time creating social media content and developing new recipes, such as tigre cake, an almond cake filled with chocolate ganache. Bakers will find more of Wilkinson’s takes on local specialties in her cookbook, French Pastry Made Simple. On days off, Wilkinson and her husband, François, enjoy traveling or entertaining friends and family. 

    

    Since her studies at Le Cordon Bleu, Wilkinson has continued creating French pastries with masterful baking and presentation skills. Photo by Krystal Kenney

    What prompted you to leave your marketing career in the U.S. to study pastry in Paris?

    I was at a crossroads because I could see with my career that if I just continued to put more effort in it, then I would climb the ladder. But if I wanted to try something else, this is a good time because I’m still really young. I was like, “Let’s go, let’s do it.”

    Receiving my acceptance was very surreal because I got a huge envelope in the mail, white with the Cordon Bleu logo on it, and then handwritten ‘Mademoiselle Molly Wilkinson.’

    For the exams, you were memorizing 10 recipes — so I’d have to know 100 grams of butter, 255 grams of flour, and then how it would all go together. You’d have a little multiple-choice test, but then you’d actually have to cook it, and the chefs would judge your performance on how well you knew the recipe, how it tasted and how it looked.  

    You built your career working in bakeries, at a cooking school and even at a chateau. What inspired you to create your own business teaching people how to bake?

    For me, it was like the best of both worlds. It means that I can be really creative in terms of developing recipes, but also I’m working with people a lot.

    A lot of my jobs — when I was working in bakeries and gaining my skills — it’s behind the counter in the kitchen. You don’t see anyone, it’s long hours, it’s very repetitive. I worked in a bakery where I made macarons for six months. And you get very good at macarons, very good at piping, but it’s very lonely, and it’s a hard job.

    And so for me, it was like, “How can I bring together people and what I know and also that passion that I have for developing new things?” A lot of my recipes — they’re like French classics but bringing a twist of American flavor or style.

    You began teaching online during the pandemic. How did that experience impact your business?

    I’d set up the interface that I needed to do online, and I was taking advantage of it — I was like, “OK, this is the time people are at home, we’ve got to do this.” And for me, it’s also a way to reach people that won’t be coming to France. A huge part of my business is a baking membership — it’s called Le Baking Club. We have a really wonderful group. It’s all about community, trying new recipes, challenging yourself in the kitchen and just having fun. 

    Are there aspects of your marketing background that still help you?

    I use everything that I learned when I was working in that digital marketing job and bring that into my business now, which has become very successful because of it.

    For me, it’s thinking about the customer journey, which is something that you learn in advertising — the least amount of clicks that someone has to take in order to purchase something, the better.

    

    Wilkinson regularly hosts in-person baking classes at her bakery as well as offering live online instruction and video tutorials. Photo by Krystal Kenney

    What do you miss most from the U.S. or Texas?

    Friends and family. Besides that, Mexican food and customer service. My first stop whenever I come home is going to Chuy’s with my parents because they love it. I bring about 10 packs of H-E-B tortillas when I come back, salsa, barbecue sauce and certain things like Libby’s pumpkin — you can’t find it here. 

    What are your favorite parts about living in France?

    For me, it’s the culture. I have a very American work mentality, and I think that’s where I’ve seen a lot of success in my business. But I really do appreciate the French culture in terms of the language, but also the way of being. They’re working to live instead of living to work.

    Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.