Hailey Van Lith's future remains a question, will she return to LSU?
As of Thursday morning, there’s still no word on Hailey Van Lith’s future in basketball. The senior guard seemingly passed the Wednesday night deadline for submitting her name into the WNBA, likely meaning she’s either returning to LSU or entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
After Angel Reese announced her decision to declare for the WNBA Draft, all eyes turned to Van Lith, but there hasn’t been an update yet. It appears she’s set to play another season of college basketball
Here’s my take on the situation:
Van Lith transferred to LSU after having consistent success at Louisville, averaging 19.7 points as a junior with the Cardinals before coming to Baton Rouge where she had a completely different role as a point guard on an uber-talented LSU team.
Her scoring dipped to 11.6 points per game, but she averaged a career-high in assists at 3.6 and helped lead the Tigers into the postseason. She continued to fight to improve defensively and round out her game, taking coaching from Kim Mulkey on a daily basis.
“I hope it’s not her last game. But if it is, I’m proud to have been her coach for a year,” Mulkey said of Van Lith. “Hailey Van Lith came to LSU after being an abundant shooter. Shot it a lot at Louisville. Had great success. Was on good teams. She graduated in three years with a finance degree. She wanted to experience all the things I guess she saw from afar with our championship last year. For her to take that leap of faith and leave her comfort zone at Louisville, you don’t see many players do that when she was that big a piece to their puzzle. She has embraced learning a new position, taking less shots. Our last game against UCLA, I thought [Van Lith’s] stats were very good, but I’m an old point guard, and I see all that.
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“I am forever indebted to Haley and her unselfish play to come to LSU to play with a lot of great players and learn a new position.”
LSU has two new additions set to come on campus and continues to make progress in the transfer portal. So far, high school signee Jada Richard and Arkansas transfer Jersey Wolfenbarger are the two new faces to add to the roster, but the Tigers are working to add more pieces this month.
It is assumed LSU will return a core of Flau’Jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams, and Aneesah Morrow from the starting lineup, a strong nucleus as the Tigers try to get back to the Final Four in 2025, but now the question is, will Hailey Van Lith run it back and try to show her potential in a fifth season of college ball?
Stay tuned to the Bengal Tiger On3 for the latest women’s basketball updates this month.
