"Once a tiger, always one in our hearts" - Hailey Van Lith fans rejoice after TCU's massive Big 12 title win

TCU star Hailey Van Lith was the star of the show on Sunday as the Horned Frogs clinched the Big 12 regular season title with a 51-48 win over the Baylor Bears. Van Lith had 14 points on 38.5% shooting from the floor and 25% shooting from beyond the arc, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the season-defining win.

Van Lith, who left the LSU Tigers last year after a challenging season in Baton Rouge under coach Kim Mulkey, has shown her talent for the Horned Frogs whom she joined via the transfer portal. After clinching the conference title, she got a deluge of congratulatory messages including from former teammate Angel Reese who wrote on X:

"So proud of you sis."

ESPNW shared the tweet with a photo of Hailey Van Lith on Instagram on Monday and fans reacted to her big win in the comments.

"Once a tiger, always one in our hearts, CONGRATS HVL and @tcuwbb," a fan wrote in response to Reese's tweet.

"HVL deserves all the blessings," another commented.

Fan reactions to Hailey Van Lith (Credit: Instagram/@espnw)

Hailey Van Lith repairs her reputation after the LSU disaster

During her time as a star for the Louisville Cardinals, Hailey Van Lith was one of the most hyped players in college basketball, regularly being listed as a potential top-five WNBA Draft pick alongside the likes of Caitlin Clark.

The move to the LSU Tigers to play under coach Kim Mulkey and alongside star Angel Reese was supposed to elevate her game. She started playing point guard instead of the off-ball guard role that she was used to and struggled massively.

At the end of the 2023-2024 season, the talented Van Lith entered the portal instead of declaring for the WNBA Draft as was expected and LSU coach Kim Mulkey was blunt in her assessment of the situation with Hailey Van Lith.

“She wanted to improve her strengths by coming to LSU with a goal of expanding her game by learning a position that I played my entire life,” Mulkey said, “because she knows at the next level that's her only chance – to be able to tell them somewhat, ‘I can handle the ball if you need me to.’”

When Van Lith chose to move to the TCU Horned Frogs, there was consternation among fans at her decision, but she has more than justified the decision. The TCU star has averaged 17.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists while leading the Horned Frogs to the regular season Big 12 title, more than repairing her reputation that took a huge hit in Baton Rouge.