See Hailey Van Lith on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in black one-piece swimsuit

Hailey Van Lith knew she belonged. Then she went out and proved it.

Leading the TCU Horned Frogs to the Elite 8 and a Big 12 championship after little preseason expectations, the former Louisville Cardinals and LSU Tigers guard had a Cinderella run that also saw her win Big 12 Player of the Year honors.

Now Cinderella slipped her foot into the glass slipper as the April 2025 digital cover model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, joining the rarified college ranks models, joining NIL queen Livvy Dunne.

Wearing a stunning black one-piece swimsuit, HVL, 23, stares into the camera with her hair blown out holding a sparkly Big 12 silver-and-black basketball. Many fans had guessed it was Van Lith when SI Swimsuit had dropped footage of the shoot without showing her face, especially when the uniquely bedazzled basketball appeared.

Hailey Van Lith — Taylor Ballantyne/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Next up for the 5-foot-9 Washington native is the WNBA, where the Paris Olympic bronze medalist is expected to go around the 9-11 range in next Monday's WNBA draft. That could see her rejoining former LSU teammate Angel Reese, 22, and the Chicago Sky or Cameron Brink, 23, and the Los Angeles Sparks.

“People have been labeling this as a ‘comeback,’ like I’m getting my lick back kind of thing,” Van Lith told SI Swimsuit in the feature story. “And I don’t think that necessarily aligns with me personally. I wouldn’t say that this was a comeback year, because I never thought that I left.”

Having candidly opened up about her mental struggles and thoughts of suicide, it's wonderful to see HVL get that swagger back, something she fully admits she lost when transferring to LSU and not meshing with head coach Kim Mulkey's style. After a humiliating performance against Caitlin Clark in Iowa's Elite 8 victory, social media showed no mercy. Adding insult to injury, her draft stock plummeted.

Now the reassured Van Lith can get her revenge at the highest level of women's basketball. But don't call it a comeback.

Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith — Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith could be reunited with the WNBA's Chicago Sky | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images