Hailey Van Lith Finds New WNBA Home Two Days After Sky Waive Her

The 2025 11th overall pick will play for her second W franchise in just as many years.

The Sun claimed Hailey Van Lith off of waivers. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Hailey Van Lith has found a new WNBA home just two days after the Sky waived her in a surprising move. The TCU product was the No. 11 pick in last year’s WNBA draft and ultimately only played one season in Chicago.

The Sun claimed Van Lith off waivers on Wednesday. The contract details were not announced at the time. Van Lith needed to be on a roster by Thursday’s deadline for the WNBA teams to turn in their final rosters. Van Lith’s addition comes hours after the Sun waived guards Madison Hayes and Taylor Bigby, presumably making room for Van Lith on the roster.

The 24-year-old guard has played for Sun coach Jen Rizotti before when Van Lith competed on the 3x3 women’s basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rizotti was the 3x3 team’s head coach during the Summer Games.

Van Lith played in 29 games for the Sky last season, all off the bench, averaging 3.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists. These stats were significantly lower than what the college phenom recorded in her NCAA career. In her final season at TCU, for instance, Van Lith averaged 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.

She’s coming from a team that tied for the worst record in the WNBA last season (10–34) to joining the team that finished just one game better (11–33). The Sun begin their 2026 season on Friday, May 8 against the New York Liberty.

Sun’s offseason moves

The Sun’s biggest move of the offseason was acquiring Brittney Griner in free agency. The center will be replacing Tina Charles in the starting lineup, who just happened to retire from basketball on Tuesday after exploring free agency herself. The team also re-signed center Olivia Nelson-Ododa to come back for at least a fourth season there.

Connecticut also signed Kennedy Burke in free agency, a player who recently helped Turkey earn a spot in the FIBA World Cup this fall and was named EuroCup Finals MVP this offseason.

The Sun was involved in an early trade last month with the Dallas Wings as the latter sent Diamond Miller to the Sun in exchange for center Rayah Marshall. Miller was the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, but has dealt with injuries early in her WNBA career.

Here’s a look at all the major free agency moves made during this WNBA offseason.

Sun’s projected starting five

Van Lith’s proven herself to be a star coming off the bench, and this is a role she will likely remain in when arriving in Connecticut.

• Leïla Lacan
• Saniya Rivers
• Diamond Miller
• Aneesah Morrow
• Brittney Griner

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