LSU’s Hailey Van Lith entering transfer portal after one season with Kim Mulkey’s Tigers

Getty Images

After a year with the reigning champion LSU Tigers, Hailey Van Lith is entering the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. She has one more year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Van Lith news comes the same week LSU’s Angel Reese announced she will not be using her extra year of eligibility to remain with the Tigers. Reese is instead declaring for the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Before joining LSU, Van Lith was the star at Louisville in more of a shooting guard role. When she joined the Tigers, Van Lith became more of a point guard as she thought it would help prepare her for the WNBA.

“Hailey Van Lith came to LSU after being an abundant shooter. Shot it a lot at Louisville. Had great success. Was on good teams,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “For her to take that leap of faith and leave her comfort zone at Louisville, you don’t see many players do that when she was that big a piece to their puzzle.”

With LSU this season, Van Lith averaged 11.6 points per game and led the team with 118 assists. The Tigers were not able to win a second consecutive national title, but they still made it to the Elite Eight before falling to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Van Lith’s defense on Caitlin Clark was widely criticized during and after that Elite Eight loss, however. 

Before joining Mulkey’s squad, Van Lith spent three seasons with the Cardinals under Jeff Walz. Van Lith led Louisville to the 2022 Final Four as a sophomore and then the Elite Eight last season. As a junior, Van Lith averaged 19.7 points per contest along with 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals. She was named a First Team All-ACC selection in 2022 and 2023.