Sky Star Hailey Van Lith Opens Up About 'Up and Down' LSU Season Before TCU Transfer

Chicago Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith got honest about her one season spent at LSU after returning to the Tigers' home court for a WNBA preseason game.

Mar 24, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Hailey Van Lith (11) looks on against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders during the second half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Chicago Sky play in their first preseason game of the 2025 WNBA season on Friday, when they take on the Brazilian National Team.

This contest is taking place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the LSU Tigers basketball team's home court. The big selling point in putting this preseason game here is because it's a homecoming for beloved Chicago superstar Angel Reese, who won a 2023 NCAA championship playing at LSU.

However, Reese isn't the only former LSU player on the Sky. Her teammate, rookie Hailey Van Lith, spent the 2023-24 season playing with Reese under head coach Kim Mulkey before deciding to transfer and finish her college career at TCU.

Van Lith struggled more during her lone LSU season than she did during any other stage of her college career, and this was magnified because LSU was fresh off a national title and such a high-profile program.

And in a May 1 article from Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune, Van Lith is quoted saying several things about her time at LSU.

“It was the year that helped me get ready for the league the most from a mental perspective,” Van Lith said about LSU. “LSU was like — this is the mentality that you have to have to be a pro. You have to just figure out how to make things work when it’s not what you expected it to be.

“For me, LSU was just a year that I had to make ends meet and figure it out no matter what. And that’s what the pros is. You want to play on a team, you want to have a job, so you do whatever you need to do to make that happen," she added.

At the end of the article, Van Lith said of that year, “It wasn’t always clean and pretty and it was definitely up and down, but I think I did a pretty good job with my circumstance and what was being asked of me. I still have a lot left to learn, but now at least I’ve got a little head start.”

"The atmosphere around women's basketball is next level."@haileyvanlith compliments the @LSUwbkb fanbase and "the beautiful campus" at #LSU. Van Lith was asked about what advice she would give to new Tiger Milaysia Fulwiley. pic.twitter.com/zpuRmGPnV8

— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) May 2, 2025

It will be interesting to see how Van Lith is received by LSU's home fans on Friday.