SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 31: Paige Bueckers #5 of the UConn Huskies shoots a free throw in the second half against the USC Trojans during the Elite Eight round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at Spokane Arena on March 31, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Tyler McFarland/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Tyler McFarland/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith and Azzi Fudd all have reached out to a mental health professional for help at one point, seeking assistance to cope with the increasing pressure on college basketball players.
That pressure can come from high expectations, social media attention, sports bettors, the transfer portal or the grueling solitude when rehabbing from an injury. One major difference in today’s sports world is a willingness to ignore the stigma attached to seeking professional help and acceptance of psychologists.
“I would say it’s grown with an increased demand for services and how many student athletes are using it,” said Ashley Harmon, who is the director of Clinical Behavioral Health at Texas. “This generation is a lot more open for seeking mental health. Athletes come in because of anxiety, depression, relationships, navigating things with coaches and teammates.”
It is unclear how many athletes are meeting with a mental health professional, but several have been willing to talk openly about their experiences.
Coaches, teammates and family members can be a critical source of support for athletes, though sometimes more is needed, especially from someone not directly involved with their day-to-day lives.
Bueckers and Fudd, who both have comeback from season-ending injuries during their UConn careers, have said that sports psychologists have helped them.
“It’s just a grounding point of a person who you can go to and there’s no judgments, it’s a judgement-free zone, and they can just talk to you about anything,” Bueckers said. “Just ease your nerves, calm you down, get you to focus on everything but what’s going on in the present and just trying to be, I mean, the best version of yourself.”
Rori Harmon: ‘Not something you can do alone’
Van Lith said she first decided she needed to get help and get serious about her well-being after seeing the story about Katie Meyer, the Stanford goalie who died by suicide at her campus residence in March 2022.
The TCU guard said she personally invested in a sports psychologist “who kind of doubles as like a normal therapist at the same time.”
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MARCH 29: Hailey Van Lith #10 of the TCU Horned Frogs catches a pass during the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Legacy Arena at the BJCC on March 29, 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
“And also, I think I’ve matured a lot,” Van Lith said. “I’m older than I was. When I was going through a lot of ...
