Former LSU point guard Hailey Van Lith has decided which school she will play for next. According to Talia Goodman of The Next, Van Lith transfers to TCU.
Van Lith, 22, spent just one season at LSU. She entered the transfer portal on April 4, just three days after LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight. She spent the first three years of her college career at Louisville before transferring to LSU after the Tigers’ national championship in April 2023. She has one year of eligibility remaining.
In her lone season at LSU, Van Lith was a bit uneven. She was less effective as a shooter, with her FG% dropping from .411 in 2022-23 to .388 this past season. After averaging 19.7 points per game her junior year at Louisville, she averaged just 11.6 this year at LSU. Some of that is probably due to a change in position. At LSU, she was a starting point guard for the first time and one of the team’s primary ballhandlers. That was an adjustment, and her grades showed that.
Van Lith has not spoken about her decision to transfer, but her former coach at LSU, Kim Mulkey, offered some insight into what Van Lith thinks.
“Her ambition was to get drafted this year,” Mulkey said via NOLA.com, “and she realized, ‘I need another year, and I need to get back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position. ‘
Mulkey also noted how Van Lith had tried to challenge herself by expanding her skill set, coming to LSU specifically to learn from Mulkey about being a starting point guard.
“She wanted to improve on her strengths by coming to LSU with the goal of expanding her game by learning a position I have played my entire life,” Mulkey said, “because she knows this is her only opportunity at the next level is – to be able to play. tell them a little, “I can handle the ball if you need me to.”
Mulkey also expressed support for Van Lith even as she left the program.
“Hailey Van Lith is one of the hardest-working players I have ever coached,” Mulkey said.
