Hailey Van Lith Relays Wounds Suffered From Chicago Sky Teammate Competition

When Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese spoke with the media on May 12, she shared the recruiting pitch she made to GM Jeff Pagliocca on behalf of her former LSU teammate Hailey Van Lith.

"I told [Sky GM] Jeff [Pagliocca] during the draft process, I was like 'If you want a dog, go get Hailey.' And I kept telling him that," Reese said, per an X post from the Chicago Sports Network.

"And you can see her grit, you can see how hard she works, she's one of the first to get in the gym and one of the last to leave."

Van Lith had to scratch and claw her way to the WNBA after a rollercoaster four seasons spent in college, which consisted of her playing with Louisville, LSU, and then TCU. And it seems that the scratching and clawing have continued once she reached the Sky, which Chicago Tribune reporter Julia Poe relayed during a recent episode of the CHGO Bulls Podcast.

"Second day of training camp, I sit down to talk with Hailey, and I'm like, 'How's training camp? Are you a little banged up?' And she goes, 'Well, Kia Nurse has scratch marks from here to here on her neck right now,'" Poe said, per an X post from CHGO Sky.

Poe then quoted Van Lith saying, "'But look at this'. Pulls her jersey up, she's got like scratch marks on her torso, she's got bruises all the way down her legs, she's like pointing all of them out like little souvenirs. And I'm like, 'Oh, okay. So you're having a great time?' And [Hailey] looks back at me, she goes, 'Yeah.'"

You HAVE to hear this story about the training camp battles between Kia Nurse and Hailey Van Lith. Our friends at @CHGO_Bulls had the great @byjuliapoe on their show yesterday to talk Bulls...but she also shared this fantastic nugget. pic.twitter.com/pqKeBeqrnZ
— CHGO Sky (@CHGO_Sky) May 14, 2025

It sounds like Van Lith is bearing her bruises and scratches from Sky training camp with pride.

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