BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU's women's basketball guard Hailey Van Lith will enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to On3. The announcement comes after Angel Reese decided to head to the WNBA Draft Wednesday, as fans waited for Van Lith to make a choice.
Van Lith transferred from Louisville to LSU in 2023, where she spent the first three seasons of her collegiate career. She started every game this year for the Tigers, averaging 11.6 ppg and 3.6 apg in purple in gold.
According to On3, Van Lith was "one of the most heralded high school recruits in the country coming out of Wenatchee (Washington) Cashmere".
After the 94-87 loss against Iowa on Monday, Apr. 1, Mulkey said she hoped Van Lith would play for the Tigers again next season.
“Hailey Van Lith came to LSU after being an abundant shooter,” Mulkey said. “Shot it a lot at Louisville. Had great success. Was on good teams. But 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.”
However, Van Lith's scoring numbers had also decreased. Her season high was She scored 26 points in a 75-60 win against Tennessee.
In her junior year at Louisville, she averaged 19.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.2 apg.
Mulkey explained that her low numbers came from her new responsibilities as point guard, a different position than "off-ball scoring role she filled at Louisville." Mulkey mentioned the new position had her "taking less shots."
“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," Mulkey said.
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