Hailey Van Lith was drafted by the Chicago Sky as the No. 11 overall pick in this year's WNBA Draft. While speaking to reporters during training camp this week, the 5'9" guard, who attended three universities during her collegiate career, said one school prepared her for the professional league more than the others: LSU.
Van Lith is preparing to play her first professional minutes with the Sky during the team's preseason game against the Brazilian National Team on May 2. The game will take place in Baton Rouge at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, where she and Sky teammate Angel Reese played together during the 2023-24 season.
That season was "the year that helped me get ready for the league the most from a mental perspective," Van Lith told the Chicago Tribune. "(That season at) LSU was like — this is the mentality that you have to have to be a pro. You have to just figure out how to make things work when it’s not what you expected it to be."
LSU wasn't the best fit for Hailey Van Lith, but the move was necessary
The admission is a humble one for Van Lith, as it's well known that LSU and Kim Mulkey's system was never exactly the right fit — but Van Lith herself has also made it clear how dire her situation at Louisville was, and why she needed to leave in the first place.
While speaking to reporters following TCU's March Madness game on March 23, Van Lith admitted she struggled with her mental health during her early collegiate years because she was "exposed to the media and social media at such a young age."
"When I was younger and in college, I was suicidal, I was heavily medicated and I felt trapped," Van Lith said. "And you would never know because I was having a ton of success on the court, but internally, and in life in general, I was ready to be done. And so that’s what I mean when I speak on suffering and pain. It’s like I didn’t even want to live."
Kim Mulkey played her role perfectly
If there's one person in the equation who understood exactly what Van Lith needed to grow and become great, it was LSU's Kim Mulkey. Van Lith was a high-volume shooting guard for Louisville, where she helped the Cardinals make it to two Elite Eights and one Final Four. But everything changed when she landed in Baton Rouge and Mulkey shifted her to a starting point guard role — something the coach said had to happen.
Van Lith needed to be able to show the WNBA she can do whatever the league needs her to do, Mulkey told the Chicago Tribune. And though it was a struggle — Van Lith's shooting volume dropped from 13.2 points per game in Kentucky to 9.9 attempts per game in Louisana — in the end, Van Lith learned what she needed to. Growth is challenging, and sometimes we do our best work when we feel stuck, something Van Lith ultimately learned the hard way.