$1.7 million worth Angel Reese backs Hailey Van Lith as LSU star shares exciting snippet from the court: "Kl11A"

LSU superstar forward Angel Reese has been supportive of teammate Hailey Van Lith on social media, who has been enduring a tough transition from Louisville to LSU. The $1.7 million NIL-valued Reese (as per On3) recently backed Van Lith's snippet of the season on her Instagram stories, captioning the post:

"Kl11A"

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Hailey Van Lith gets into the groove

Hailey Van Lith finally showed the form she was renowned for at Louisville in their game against Tennessee, registering a season-high 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 50% shooting from the field and 80% from beyond the arc.

In her postgame news conference, Van Lith explained her ever-changing role with the Tigers and sounded confident about her ability to influence games for LSU going forward.

"And this game, I rebounded, and I hit shots," Van Lith said. "So, my role changes every game, and I think I've been able to be comfortable with whatever that role is that game."

After the game, LSU coach Kim Mulkey defended Hailey Van Lith, who has been getting criticism all season for not hitting the heights at LSU.

“Well, Hailey’s taken in a lot of criticism and it needs to stop. It needs to stop, she’s learning a new position, she’s on a top team in the country, the defending national champions. She’s having to play the point guard, and today, she moved to the off-guard. She had zero, and you write that big, zero turnovers in almost 37 minutes of play. That’s the most important stat in my eye,” Mulkey said.

Kim Mulkey addresses Angel Reese's future

Both Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith have the option of returning to college basketball due to the extra year granted to student-athletes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Iowa star Caitlin Clark opted not to use hers, Van Lith and Reese have left LSU fans in limbo, not addressing whether they will declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Mulkey addressed the futures of both Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese in her Georgia postgame news conference.

"I don’t know if I’ll have a conversation with them. Angel said when she came here she would stay two years and Hailey said she’d stay one. I'm not the type of coach to sit people down and tell them which agents to pick or talk them out of what they want to do," Mulkey said.

"They know they have the COVID year to come back and they would be more than welcome, but I try to stay away from having any kind of influential conversation, particularly with Hailey and Angel, because they made it perfectly clear when they came what they wanted to do."

LSU fans will hope that both their stars take up the option of an extra year in purple.