Hailey Van Lith spent the first three years of her college basketball career at Louisville before transferring south to LSU during this past offseason. Her two worlds will collide in Baton Rouge during the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers will host the Cardinal for the First and Second Rounds!
Van Lith, Kim Mulkey and her teammates offered a priceless reaction when the bracket was announced. It was somewhere between, shock, delight, confusion and thrill.
Priceless!
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 18, 2024
Check out @LSUwbkb , @KimMulkey @haileyvanlith and @Reese10Angel reaction to @LouisvilleWBB being sent to Baton Rouge for the NCAA Tournament. #LSU pic.twitter.com/mnuamNbquR
It was a big deal for Hailey Van Lith to leave Louisville behind after two-straight years as the team’s leading scorer. From an outside perspective, it felt like ver few players were more in sync with their program than Van Lith at Louisville. She felt connected with head coach Jeff Walz.
The decision ultimately stemmed from a few different things. Not only did Van Lith want to join the reigning national champions with a chance to repeat, it gave her an opportunity to pivot her game more toward a point guard position in the WNBA with a talented roster around her.
Walz made it clear that NIL was not the driving factor and wished her nothing but the best.
She graduates in May with a finance degree. (Transferring) Gives her a chance to get Masters degree from another institution. She didn’t mention NIL as reason.
— Jeff Walz
Should both LSU and Louisville win their respective First Round matchups against Rice and a really good Middle Tennessee State team, they will meet each other for the first time this year on March 24. Mulkey says that her first-year transfer is up for the challenge!
Kim Mulkey on Louisville being sent to Baton Rouge and what it means for Hailey Van Lith:
— Cory Diaz (@ByCoryDiaz) March 18, 2024
“(Some of her teammates) were laughing.
“But Hailey is a baller. If that matchup happens, she’ll be ready.”#LSU pic.twitter.com/t2PjODzmJr
On the other side of the region, Walz does not want his team to look past the Blue Raiders— who beat the Cardinals by double digits in Tennessee last year. Their focus is on winning one game at a time.
We can’t worry about any second-round game because Middle is legit. We know we have our hands full with them. I am not even going to worry about anything after that. We know it’s one and done now.
— Jeff Walz
It is possible that the matchup between LSU and Louisville does not happen. MTSU could play the spoiler.
However, should Van Lith get a chance to face her former college basketball team, there is no reason that she should lose!