FORT WORTH – TCU women's basketball will boast a WNBA presence on its bench come tipoff time at its season-opener in November.
 
The Horned Frogs have hired Chicago Sky forward Ruthy Hebard as an assistant coach ahead of the 2023-24 season, as announced by head coach Mark Campbell on Monday.
 
Hebard, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, played four seasons for Campbell at Oregon from 2016-2020 during his tenure as the Ducks associate head coach. While in Eugene, Campbell mentored Hebard into a four-time All-Pac-12 player and three-time All-American. Hebard twice won the Katrina McClain Award, given annually to the nation's best power forward, and was a unanimous first team All-American as a senior.
 
"We are very excited to add someone like Ruthy to our program," Campbell said. "She just finished her fourth season in the WNBA and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be so valuable for our players.  It has come full circle from coaching her in college to now coaching alongside her."
 
TCU joins Oregon, Minnesota, Penn State and Vanderbilt as one of just a handful of programs with an active WNBA player on its coaching staff.
 
"Ruthy is going to jump in and she'll train and work out with our kids," Campbell said in an interview with The Next. "You've got young ladies that have dreams of getting to play in the WNBA, and to have someone that is currently doing it, to have them on your staff and to share their experiences and their wisdom, to compete against them and to see what that looks like, you can't replicate that."
 
The relationship between Hebard and the Horned Frogs' coaching staff goes back a decade. Jessie Craig, TCU's director of operations, coached Hebard at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, Alaska, from 2013-2016. There, Craig and Campbell grew acquainted while the Horned Frogs head man spearheaded Hebard's recruitment. TCU associate head coach Xavier Lopez served as an assistant coach alongside Campbell at Oregon during all four years of Hebard's collegiate career. During the 2019-20 season, the 6-4 forward was teammates with forward Sedona Prince and assistant coach Minyon Moore, who started all 33 games as the Ducks' point guard. Hebard also crossed paths with assistant coach Nia Jackson her senior year. Jackson was the Ducks' director of creativity on a squad that Hebard helped lead to a 31-2 overall record and seemed primed to win a National Championship before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Hebard has suited up for the Sky for the entirety of her WNBA career. She has tallied 429 points, 305 rebounds, 43 steals and 38 blocks across 95 career games played. Hebard averaged a career-high 16.8 minutes, 5.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per outing during Chicago's run to the WNBA Championship.
 
In April, Hebard gave birth to a son, Xzavier. On July 9, just 12 weeks after his berth, Hebard returned to the court and helped lead the Sky to a first round appearance in the WNBA playoffs.
 
She played overseas during her first three WNBA offseasons for Nesibe Aydin, Passalacqua Ragusa and KSC Szekszárd.
 
Her name is immortalized in Oregon women's basketball lore. She is both the Oregon and Pac-12 all-time leader in career field goal percentage (.651). Hebard is also the NCAA record holder for consecutive field goals made with 33. Hebard remains the Ducks' active leader in career field goals made (987) and is one of only five Oregon players to exceed 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She ranks second in Oregon program history in points (2,368), double-figure scoring games (123) and games played (144).
 
Hebard was one of three top-10 selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft that Campbell mentored. She was joined by top overall pick Sabrina Ionescu and No. 2 draft choice Satou Sabally. The "Big Three" of Ionescu, Sabally and Hebard marked the seventh time a trio of players from the same team were selected in the top 10 of the same WNBA Draft.
 
She led the Ducks to a 120-26 combined record over her four years in the pacific northwest. For her career, Hebard accumulated 2,368 points (16.4 ppg), 1,299 rebounds (9.0 rpg), 169 steals and 146 blocks.
 
As a senior, Hebard averaged 17.3 points and a career-best 9.6 rebounds per outing to guide the Ducks to a third straight Pac-12 regular season title along with the Pac-12 Tournament championship. Hebard joined Ionescu as one of only two unanimous All-Americans in program history following the season's conclusion. Hebard received her second of three All-American citations in 2018-19, helping the Ducks to their first-ever Final Four. She won her first Katrina McClain Award the previous season as a sophomore to power Oregon to a sweep of the Pac-12 regular season and tournament championships and second straight Elite Eight. Hebard led Oregon in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg) to ignite the Ducks' surprise Elite Eight run. 
 
She boasts ample international credentials as well. Hebard represented Team USA at the FIBA U18 and U19 World Championships in 2016 and 2017. She also won USA Basketball 3x3 national titles in 2018 and 2019 alongside Ionescu.
 
Hebard became a three-time Alaska Gatorade State Player of the Year under Craig's tutelage. She averaged an eye-popping 25.9 points, 15.1 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists during her senior year. Hebard was deemed the No. 40 overall recruit in the class of 2016 in the ESPN HoopGurlz recruiting rankings.