Escape From LSU: Hailey Van Lith Lands At Troubled TCU In Strange Move

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Something seems amiss on the bayou.

With Angel Reese leaving the LSU women's basketball team a year early and becoming the seventh pick of the WNBA Draft's first round, a new dynamic is on the horizon for the LSU Tigers. But senior Hailey Van Lith chose to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after a frustrating season as LSU's point guard for a return to her shooting guard role in which she thrived for three seasons at Louisville.

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Surely, she could have asked to play shooting guard at LSU next season. Maybe she did, and coach Kim Mulkey said no. Or perhaps she just wanted a fresh start, which seems to be all the repetitive rage in the NCAA Transfer Portal world that fosters escapes and not sticking with it. 

LSU forward Angel Reese (left) and Hailey Van Lith, who will transfer to TCU after struggling with a position change from shooting guard at Louisville for three seasons to point guard this season at LSU. (Getty Images).

Stanford, UCLA and Mississippi State were among the top programs expected to sign her for her extra season from COVID. Instead, Van Lith will transfer to Texas Christian University, which finished 6-12 for ninth in the Big 12 in a season that saw the Horned Frogs lose nine of 10 games in January and February. 

TCU Forfeited Games This Season

That losing streak included two forfeits for lack of players amid injuries, forcing first-year coach Mark Campbell to hold an open tryout for walk-ons. TCU finished 21-12 and did not reach the NCAA Tournament, resorting to splitting two games at the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WNIT). But Campbell's 21 wins were more than what TCU won in its previous two seasons, which was 14. And he did show promise early as TCU started off 14-0 and was ranked No. 23 in the nation on Dec. 30.

Campbell had also attracted Miami point guard Haley Cavinder, who decided to quit college basketball after the 2022-23 season. In October, she said she would be transferring to TCU for the 2024-25 season. But as of Thursday, she plans to return to Miami and play another season with her twin sister Hanna Cavinder. Such is the portal, as players with so many free options can't seem to decide what to do.

Van Lith averaged 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists at Louisville in the 2022-23 season on 41 percent shooting (256 of 623) at shooting guard. She came to 2022-23 national champion LSU as the No. 1 transfer target in the nation.

Hailey Van Lith averaged 6.8 points on 17 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent from 3-point range for LSU in the NCAA Tournament. (Getty Images)

But at LSU, she dipped to 11.6 points a game on 124-of-328 shooting for 37 percent. During the NCAA Tournament, it got worse. Van Lith averaged just 6.8 points in LSU's three games on 4-of-23 shooting for 17 percent and was 1 of 9 from 3-point range for 11 percent. From 3-point range, she finished 40 of 118 for 33 percent. 

It was the worst season of her career. As a sophomore at Louisville, she averaged 14.4 points a game on 43 percent shooting (185 of 428) and hit 36 percent from 3-point range (45 of 129). As a freshman, she scored 11.2 points a game on 42 percent shooting and shot at 38 percent from 3-point range (49 of 128).

Van Lith struggled on defense at LSU, particularly in the Tigers' 94-87 loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Elite Eight. Van Lith could not keep up with the speed of Clark, who continually penetrated the middle of the lane for several layups in her 41-point total and had 12 assists. Because of Clark's dribble penetration, Iowa led from early on, and LSU could never catch up. LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson would have been a better choice for Clark as she effectively covered Clark late in the game. But it was too late.

OPINION: Kim Mulkey Was Outcoached This Time Vs. Iowa

Mulkey's strategy, though, was to stop the other players, thinking Clark would score her points anyway. That worked extremely well last year as LSU beat Iowa, 102-85, in the national championship game with Clark getting 30 points with eight assists and was not nearly as deadly from the lane. 

Van Lith enters TCU as the No. 12-ranked player in the transfer portal, dropping 11 spots from a year ago. Her draft projections have also fallen. Many thought her only decision this off-season would be to either stay at LSU or declare for the WNBA Draft. Few saw her entering the transfer portal. Fewer still saw her headed to TCU. 

"Her aspirations were to get drafted this year, and she realized, 'I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position (of shooting guard)," Mulkey said last week at an end-of-season banquet. "And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well."

Or, you ask Van Lith, whom Mulkey called "one of the hardest working players I've ever coached," to play shooting guard for you.