Hailey Van Lith is currently on campus at Mississippi State after entering the transfer portal earlier this month. She is there with one of her former Team USA teammates as well.
It seems like a lock that the former Louisville and LSU guard will end up in Starkville.
Van Lith, who has one year of eligibility remaining, played just one year with the Tigers. Her goal was to learn a new position before turning pro and Kim Mulkey granted her the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, the transition to become a more traditional ball-handler never quite clicked and she decided to seek a new opportunity in a more comfortable scoring role for her final season of college basketball.
The Bulldogs make a lot of sense. They need a guard.
However, more importantly, Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell is extremely close with Van Lith and reflects a stark contrast to Mulkey. He coached her for two years in Kentucky before getting his first opportunity to lead his own program.
At this point, it would be surprising if Van Lith is not wearing maroon next year!
And then there is Leilani Kapinus. She is also on campus for a visit, according to Stefan Krajisnik. The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds for Penn State last season and entered the portal earlier this week.
Kapinus and Van Lith played together for Team USA on the 3X3 Tour last summer!
It’s a @leilani_kapinus block party in Chile!#3x3NL pic.twitter.com/Ebe5iw7UyL
— USA Basketball 3×3 (@usab3x3) July 24, 2023
They already have a chemistry. They are both proven players on the high-major level.
If Purcell can land both Hailey Van Lith and Leilani Kapinus, the Bulldogs are going to have a nasty backcourt next year. That feels pretty inevitable at this point. A commitment from both players seems imminent, unless they both absolutely hate Starkville — which is not out of the realm of possibility.
However, for them to visit Mississippi State together is pretty telling for what is to come!