“Will make me a lot better”: Hailey Van Lith explains why she chose TCU & Big 12 for her final year of college basketball 

Hailey Van Lith played for the LSU last year, but entered the transfer portal in April and committed to play for TCU for her final season of college basketball.

During the 2024 Big 12 Media Days, she was asked why she chose TCU and the Big 12 conference to end her final college basketball season.

She said:

"I think TCU is obviously is great for a lot of reasons, but the style of play that I knew we were gonna have under Coach Campbell. Just the freedom I would have in the offense and the opportunity to showcase a lot of abilities. I knew it would be there, I knew him for quite a while in my basketball career before this moment and he's always genuinely wanted the best for me. So, I knew that I could trust coach with my last year."

"I think that the Big 12 is unique, is very versatile teams who play a lot of different styles of basketball. So, I think it will make me a lot better and the Big 12 will help me improve."

Hailey Van Lith once expressed her love for playing in front of a loud crowd

Hailey Van Lith was a star during her high school years at Cashmere High School in Washington. When she was still a high school star, she was featured in an Overtime video in 2020. Van Lith said that the school's women's basketball team was very popular and often played in front of a loud crowd.

"People in my community love basketball and so as a girl's team, we get a lot of support which I think is cool. Because (if) you go to a school next door to us and they have like 50 people at their game. But our gym is like packed. I love playing in front of big crowds and like crazy fans stuff. That's the best part of basketball." (0:46)

HVL had a successful offseason as she won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she represented Team USA in the women's 3x3 basketball tournament.

Additionally, she also earned her master's degree from LSU. Despite her lukewarm season under Kim Mulkey, where she averaged 11.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals, Hailey Van Lith remains optimistic.