"She didn't quite find the right fit at LSU": Mark Campbell aims to unleash Hailey Van Lith's potential by giving her 'freedom'

Hailey Van Lith opted for a change of scenery this summer by swapping the LSU Tigers for the TCU Horned Frogs after just one season. Why? A key reason would be that the guard wasn't quite the piece of the puzzle under Kim Mulkey last season, as per TCU coach Mark Campbell.

"She didn't quite find the right fit at LSU," Campbell shared during Media Day on Tuesday. "It was just one of those situations where things didn't fully click."

Moreover, Campbell already has a different plan of action. Even though he wants his TCU team to have the most pick-and-roll actions in the nation, he wants Hailey Van Lith to play with the same kind of 'freedom' she had for most of her years. With that, Van Lith will be a combo guard for the Horned Frogs.

"Hailey needs freedom, she needs space, and when she has those things she can put the ball in the hole at a high level and create for your team at a high level. So we're going to make sure she gets to do those things. We want to play fast in transition, she's hard to contain. So hopefully we unleash Hailey, but she'll be used at the one and the two for us."

Hailey Van Lith was a combo guard during her time with the Louisville Cardinals

Being one of the top players in the 2020 recruiting class, Van Lith immediately earned a starting role with the Cardinals. While operating as a shooting guard for the entire stretch, she occasionally took on a guard's role. Due to the freedom in her shots and movements, the Washington native saw a gradual upward growth in stats throughout the years.

In 2022, Hailey Van Lith led Louisville to just its fourth Final Four appearance in program history, averaging 20.2 points per game in the NCAA tournament. Next year, she led the program to an Elite Eight appearance, posting nearly 24 ppg in the annual tourney.