A grateful Hailey Van Lith is eager to get to work playing for the Sky
Hailey Van Lith is feeling grateful today.
Grateful to be drafted by the Chicago Sky. Grateful to have a chance to play in the WNBA.
But most of all she’s grateful to be feeling good again. Van Lith has been public about her mental health struggles, but the worst is behind her, she believes.
She has worked closely with a sports psychologist on controlling her “inner state of being” and limiting how external factors might affect her mental well-being. Being mentally healthy is not only important to her off the court, it makes her better on the court too.
“That impacts confidence. That impacts quality of life. That impacts reads I make in the pick and roll, believe it or not. It goes that deep. And mental health for me is so important to my game. I’m such a mental player. I’m so passionate. I love basketball,” Van Lith said after being picked at No. 11 in the first round of the WNBA draft Monday night.
Van Lith also is grateful the WNBA is combating negativity on social media that often seems vicious and aimed at female athletes.
Van Lith said WNBA officials at rookie orientation showed an app the league is partnering with to help filter hate comments out of their social media channels.
“It feels good to join a league that is not only concerned about our level of play but also how we’re functioning as humans, so that was encouraging,” Van Lith said.
And Van Lith is grateful she will get to play again with Angel Reese as a teammate. The two played together at LSU, and the Sky drafted Reese in the first round a year ago.
“Angel has maintained contact with me this whole past year since she’s been in the league and I transferred,” Van Lith said. “I really appreciate her. We have a very mature relationship, a mutual respect relationship where we both have respect for each other’s game and also the character and the person we are off the court.
“Mostly I’m just excited to get to be around her again.”
The Sky is grateful to be getting such a talented and experienced player. Van Lith holds the all-time NCAA record for games played and started (172) and minutes played (5,692). In college at Louisville, LSU and TCU, Van Lith averaged 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals. She shot 42.2% from the field, 33.8% from 3-point range and 84% from the free-throw line.
Van Lith recorded the most points (680) and assists (204) in a single season in TCU history this year.
The Sky also likes that Van Lith has won everywhere she’s gone, and that’s a confidence and determination that’s hard to teach. Her teams made the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight every year in college, and she reached the Final Four at Louisville.
“First of all, I’m wanting to bring a toughness, a resilience,” Van Lith said. “Whatever my role is, whatever my opportunities are, I just want to contribute to the culture of tough, selfless, hardworking players that I think that they’re looking to join to the program.”
“Yeah, I think first of all, she has a winning mindset,” Sky coach Tyler Warren added. “She's got a toughness about her that there's no complacency there in terms of what her improvement and potential can be. And that's part of the culture that we want to build here in Chicago. So there's a lot to like about where she is now as a player, and a whole lot to love about where she can be moving forward.”