Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese create the most lethal backcourt in college basketball for LSU. The Tigers are coming off of the first national title in program history and it will be a major letdown if they do not win it all in back-to-back years. At the very least, Kim Mulkey’s team should reach the Final Four.
Anything less would be a catastrophic disappointment. They’re that good.
Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson are back for 2023 after cutting down the nets last season. Mikaylah Williams, a top-two prospect in the recruiting Class of 2023, will provide an immeeediate impact as a true freshman. 6-foot-6 center Aalyah Del Rosario also joins the roster as a five-star recruit.
That doesn’t even include Aneesah Morrow, who transferred-in during the offseason after lighting up the stat sheet in two years at DePaul. And then there is Hailey Van Lith, who arrives to Baton Rouge after leading Louisville to deep tournament runs over the last three seasons.
Van Lith dropped 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Cardinals in 2022/23. She’s like that.
For Van Lith to team up with the reigning national champions was a huge deal. Her impact on the program was felt right away as she got down to Fantasia before knocking down a triple in front of a massive crowd during her first practice with the Bayou Bengals.
However, according to Reese, getting Van Lith to Louisiana was “hard.”
She recently spoke about her role in HVL’s recruitment and how it required them to feel each other out because there was not a prior relationship between them. Although Mulkey led the charge, Reese said — with a huge smile on her face — that Van Lith’s visit was “lit.” They had “a good time.”
From the sounds of it, Mulkey and Van Lith were keen on connecting. From there, once the latter got with Reese and the rest of her new teammates, it was a done deal. They had an absolute blast during her visit to the SEC (it’s hard not to have fun in Baton Rouge) and Van Lith hit it off.
The rest is history!
LSU is the favorite in women’s college basketball this season. Van Lith is a big reason why.