Hailey Van Lith was a high school prodigy before shining at Louisville for three seasons, where she snagged first-team All-ACC honors twice and powered the Cardinals to the 2022 NCAA Tournament Final Four as a sophomore. After her junior year, she made a bold move, transferring to LSU to team up with stars like Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson on the defending national champion Tigers.
That season, LSU rolled into the year ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, and women’s college basketball boasted a powerhouse trio. But Van Lith and the Tigers were in for a brutal reality check on the sport’s biggest stage.
In the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, LSU squared off against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes—a rematch of the previous year’s title game. Van Lith got a harsh lesson in the game’s pecking order. Clark torched her for 41 points, leaving the young point guard floundering. The image of Van Lith, helpless as Clark drained a signature 3 and strutted back down the court while she shrugged in defeat, was tough to stomach.
Once seen as a lock for the WNBA Draft, Van Lith’s stock plummeted after that humbling loss. Not long after, she opted to skip the pros and use her final year of eligibility at TCU, where she’s staged a stunning revival. She’s since guided the Horned Frogs to a 31-3 record and a first-place finish in the Big 12, clinching the regular-season crown.
Van Lith averaged just 11.6 points per game, while taking less than 10 shots per game at LSU
The 23-year-old didn’t stop there. She led TCU to the Big 12 Tournament Championship, earning the tournament’s most outstanding player nod. The 5-foot-9 guard dropped 20 points in the Horned Frogs’ gritty 64-59 win over Baylor. Across the tournament’s three games, she racked up 63 points total. On March 11, she was crowned The Associated Press’ national player of the week for Week 18—a fitting cap to her redemption arc.
Angel Reese cried after that defeat and Van Lith soon left for TCU
It’s safe to say she’s shut down the skeptics. College hoops fans have even started eating their words, offering apologies for counting her out. “A lot of people owe Hailey Van Lith an apology after she was forced to sit in the corner at LSU while Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson took 40 shots a game,” one fan posted. “Based on the out come I would say that experience was the best thing that could of happened for her,” another chimed in.
The talented point guard won the Big 12 regular-season title with the Horned Frogs
It’s a jaw-dropping comeback for the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup gold medalist, who also nabbed bronze with the 3×3 squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics. With the Big 12 title in the bag, Van Lith’s sights are now set on March Madness, determined to bury the ghosts of last year’s collapse. “I took my experience in the previous years and I learned from [it],” Van Lith told reporters recently. “I think some people go through things and they forget about it. I never forgot. I remembered what I learned in those low moments of my life.”
The March Madness lineup drops on Selection Sunday, March 16, with the first round tipping off later that week. For Van Lith, it’s a shot at rewriting her story.
