Watch: Hailey Van Lith’s Postgame Interview After Louisville’s Elite Eight Victory Goes Viral

It has been an epic run for Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith, who racked up 22 points on Monday to launch Louisville into the Final Four. The sophomore has scored 20 or more points in her last four games, a legendary run that has helped her team keep dancing in this year’s March Madness. 

After her team bested Michigan, ESPN’s Christy Winters-Scott asked what Kobe Bryant, Van Lith’s mentor, would advise her in this moment. 

“He would say go f—ing win this s— Hailey, that’s what he would say,” Van Lith said. “We’re not done, that’s what he would say.” 

According to the Los Angeles Times, Kobe reached out to Van Lith after a Team USA basketball game because he liked her work ethic and mentality, and said she reminded him of himself. Bryant also wanted Van Lith to work with his daughter, Gigi.

“He wanted to help Hailey, but he also wanted to put someone in front of his daughter she could relate to, because Hailey is an incredibly hard worker,” Hailey’s father, Corey, told the Times. “Hailey has devoted her life so far to becoming the best person and basketball player she can possibly be, and he wanted to show Gigi, ‘If you do this, you can attain the goals you want to attain.’”

Gigi and Hailey trained together a few times, would text each other about games and  the two became friends, according to the Times. Kobe also trained Hailey at his Mamba Academy. Kobe and Gigi even went to watch one of her high school games in Cashmere, Wash. on Jan. 11. 

On Jan. 28, two days after the deaths of Kobe and Gigi, Van Lith commemorated the two in a letter before a high school game. 

“To my mentor and friend Kobe, I am deeply saddened our time has been cut short,” she wrote, according to NCWLife Channel. “But God’s timing is perfect and He intentionally brought us together for this long. Thank you for teaching me that it is okay to be unapologetically great. May I honor your legacy by living my life how you would’ve wanted. With intense passion and to fearlessly pursue my craziest dreams.“ 

Van Lith committed to Louisville in Nov. 2019, and in her two seasons with Cardinals, she has averaged 12.9 points and racked up 135 assists and 267 rebounds. 

Louisville’s 62–50 win over the Wolverines on Monday made way for the Cardinals’ fourth Final Four appearance in program history. 

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