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Hailey Van Lith stuns as Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•04/08/25•

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via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Sports Illustrated has revealed its next swimsuit cover model, going with Hailey Van Lith. The women’s basketball star just wrapped up a storied college career across three different programs. TCU was the latest, showing her connection to the Horned Frogs in the tease.

The full video was released on Tuesday, showing off some of the same. Van Lith was seen holding a silver basketball with the Big 12 logo on it. People were able to guess Van Lith was the cover star due to her forearm tattoos as well.

You can check out the full gallery here.

Van Lith has one of the top NIL Valuations in the college women’s basketball game. She ranks at No. 5 with a roster valuation of $758,000.

Former LSU teammate Flu’Jae Johnson, Paige Bueckers, and the Cavendar twins are the only people ranked ahead of her. Adding Sports Illustrated to Van Lith’s lengthy list of NIL deals will only help the cause.

More on Hailey Van Lith, final season in college basketball

Van Lith just wrapped up an incredible season with TCU, helping the Horned Frogs make the Elite Eight. She averaged 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists throughout the season. The Big 12 sent the fifth-year star multiple awards as well, most notably the Big 12 Player of the Year.

Before finding success in Fort Worth, Van Lith played for the Louisville Cardinals and LSU Tigers. Every single season of her career resulted in at least an Elite Eight appearance. One of the great runs the women’s game has seen, even if there was not a ring on the other side.

“When I was like a sophomore, I was like, ‘Who would ever take their fifth year? Like, why would anyone want to be in college for five years?,'” Van Lith said of her career. “Well, that’s funny because here I am in college, my fifth year,” said Van Lith. “But, it was, it’s been, man. It’s been, certainly, a journey and nothing I expected. It was hard. It was a lot of nights of being like, I feel like God has put this thing on my heart to be great but it’s not working out right now. And, a lot of times, I had to look at myself in the mirror and just be, like, ‘What do you want, Hailey? Like, what, who are you?’ – and I’m grateful for it.

“I’m grateful for that fact that he gave me a hard journey because I would not be the woman I am sitting up here without it. And so, I really praise God for the struggle and the suffering. I praise him for the nights where, you know, I didn’t want to be alive anymore. I praise him for the nights that, um, I was on medication because I couldn’t sleep or eat. Um, and it’s painful to talk about it but it’s really how beautiful life is.”

Next up, from a basketball standpoint, is the WNBA. Van Lith saw her draft stock increase during the year and has a chance of being a top-10 pick in just about a week.