Hailey Van Lith is not in any rush to commit to her third college basketball program in five years after forgoing the WNBA to enter the transfer portal earlier this month. However, one particular suitor makes a lot of sense.
Mississippi State is targeting the former Louisville and LSU guard.
This should not come as a surprise. Many people expected Van Lith to end up with the Bulldogs instead of the Tigers last year because of a tie to her former coach.
Sam Purcell was named the ninth head coach in Mississippi State women’s basketball history in 2022. It was his first opportunity to be a head coach after spending eight years as an assistant at Louisville. He was named associate head coach of the Cardinals in 2017 and held that role until he left for Starkville.
Van Lith played two years under Purcell. They were very close.
When asked about the Bulldogs’ hire, she had high extremely praise.
Yeah, he’s my guy, man. Everyone on the team knows that’s my coach. And we’re really close and we have a great relationships. And he treats me like family. And he puts up with me when I want to work out all the time and rebounds for me and all that.
I’m going to miss him a lot, but it’s his time and he’s worked really hard for this and he deserves this opportunity. I’ll clap for him, and I’ll keep up and we’ll keep our relationship, but it’s time for him to take the next step.
— Hailey Van Lith in 2022
Despite her relationship with Purcell, Van Lith chose to play her fourth season of college basketball for Kim Mulkey in Baton Rouge. It did not go as planned for either party involved. It was very frustrating.
In fact, LSU lost to Mississippi State back in January. Van Lith shared a fun moment with Purcell prior to the game and was later visibly upset with Mulkey at the end of the game.
Perhaps those two occurrences had bigger implications than we knew!
Sam Purcell and Mississippi State are targeting Hailey Van Lith.
The former five-star recruit is going to take her time with this process. She knows the ropes and knows what she is looking for in the final year of her five-year career.
Should Van Lith end up playing for the Bulldogs, it will be very interesting to see how Sam Purcell chooses to play her. Part of the reason that she went to LSU was to learn a more traditional point guard position before turning pro. That did not work.
Is it time to abandon that position change and return to the primary shooter? We shall see…
Hailey Van Lith needs to commit to Sam Purcell and Mississippi State (or elsewhere) first!