"It was a chaotic time for me": Hailey Van Lith explains why she left Kim Mulkey's LSU to join Mark Campbell at TCU

Hailey Van Lith has been one of the highest-rated guards in women's college basketball. From Olympic success to the 3x3 FIBA Under 18 World Cup gold medal, Hailey tasted glory early in her career. She was the best player on the Louisville team when she joined college but then transferred to LSU Tigers where things took a different turn.

From being a player around whom the system was built, she became a role player at LSU who had to find her place in Kim Mulkey's system. While Caitlin Clark got her revenge on LSU in the Elite Eight last season, the basketball world got a viral moment between Hailey Van Lith and Caitlin Clark that put a major question mark over public faith in Van Lith's abilities.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, Hailey found herself in the transfer portal and joined Mark Campbell at TCU Horned Frogs. After Van Lith led all scorers in TCU's most recent victory over West Virginia, she addressed why she joined Mark Campbell at TCU. In the post-game press conference on Sunday, Hailey spoke about her decision to come to TCU.

“I knew him when I was in high school. He was my recruiter to Oregon when he was coaching at Oregon. I knew what system he ran, I knew what type of people he had on his team, character and basketball skills. I knew the staff and the way that they operated. It’s something that you want to be a part of like I knew girls on this team. I’ve known Sedona, I knew who Maddie Conner was.”, said Hailey Van Lith.

Hailey Van Lith attempts to pass the ball to Sedona Prince while TCU faced defending champions South Carolina [COLLEGE BASKETBALL: DEC 08 Women's South Carolina at TCU - Source: Getty]

"Sometimes, God just puts things on your heart, and I immediately knew that that was a school I needed to check out. It was a chaotic time for me, I had just made the or I was trying out for the Olympics, there was a lot going on and for me to really feel like, everyday I wake up something was telling me to pick up the phone and call coach. That’s just God working in my life, I can’t really explain what I think it was.”, she further added.

Hailey Van Lith's last days with LSU: The Caitlin Clark revenge game

When Hailey Van Lith joined Angel Reese and Flau'Jae Johnson at LSU in 2024 the college basketball world felt LSU had assembled the big three; destined for championship glory once again. However, Caitlin Clark had other ideas. After LSU eliminated Iowa to win the NCAA tournament in 2023, the matchup between these teams became a highly anticipated affair in the 2024 season.

Hailey Van Lith, Angel Reese, and Flau'Jae Johnson at a press conference in their LSU days. [Syndication: The Des Moines Register - Source: Imagn]

While the 2023 game birthed the Clark vs Reese rivalry, the 2024 game's most anticipated matchup was Van Lith vs Clark. However, Caitlin Clark thoroughly dominated that match-up and finished their elite eight face-off with 41 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds. It also became the origin of a viral moment that turned into a meme for Hailey Van Lith and Caitlin Clark.

After this thrashing from Caitlin Clark's Iowa, LSU's basketball roster saw some major changes. Angel Reese graduated and moved on to get drafted in the WNBA, whereas Hailey Van Lith announced she was going into the transfer portal and subsequently joined Mark Campbell's team at TCU.