Hailey Van Lith Details 'Different' Angel Reese Reunion With Sky

Chicago Sky guard Hailey Van Lith noted a difference between this team-up with Angel Reese compared their time at LSU together.

LSU Lady Tigers forward Angel Reese (10) and LSU Lady Tigers guard Hailey Van Lith (11) take questions from the media at MVP Arena, Sunday, March 31, 2024 in Albany, N.Y. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

When the Chicago Sky selected gritty guard Hailey Van Lith with the No. 11 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, one of the first thoughts the women's basketball community had was that Van Lith would be reuniting with Angel Reese, with whom she was a college teammate for one season under Kim Mulkey at LSU.

Moments after the Sky's draft pick was announced, Reese made her excitement about the decision apparent with an X post that read, "yes yes yes".

She then added, "We ain’t do it right the first time. Let’s run it backkkkk🫣," in another post.

We ain’t do it right the first time. Let’s run it backkkkk🫣 https://t.co/8PXLsHkUyN

— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) April 15, 2025

Reese is referring to the fact that LSU lost in the Elite Eight round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament (losing to Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes), thus ending their bid to repeat of NCAA champions after taking the title home in 2023.

What's more, Van Lith wasn't her typical self during that lone LSU season, as her points per game stats suffered a pronounced dip and she struggled to find her true role in Kim Mulkey's offense and team culture.

This seemed to be the basis of Van Lith's sentiment during her April 18 introductory press conference with the Chicago Sky, when she was asked about teaming up with Reese for a second time.

"I mean, I love playing with size. It makes my job a lot easier," Van Lith said. "You know, it's a different environment than when I played with Angel the first time, but I think that's all good things. And we're both different players than we were when we played with each other, but again, probably good things."

She later added, "I think we'll add a youthful flare, some fun energy, and I think it will be a great time."

Hailey Van Lith is excited to be reunited with Angel Reese and maybe more excited to not have to play against Kamilla Cardoso 😂 pic.twitter.com/yGPxkjXaPS

— Chicago Sports Network (@CHSN__) April 17, 2025

It will be fascinating to see how this "different environment" affects Van Lith's rookie season.