Hailey Van Lith transfer saga takes surprising twist after TCU commitment rumors

Hailey Van Lith is pumping the brakes on the news that she has committed to TCU.Van Lith announced earlier this month that she is transferring out of LSU, following a frustrating year with the Tigers.There had been reports that Van Lith was headed to TCU, but she told the Associated Press that she hasn’t made a final decision yet.“I did take a visit to TCU and am very interested in them, but I took visits to other schools and was very interested in them, too,” she said.

“I haven’t made an official commitment, but I’m very close.The ink has not touched the paper for any school.”TCU recently lost out on Haley Cavinder, who had announced last year that she would be joining the program after a year away from basketball, but recently did an about-face and announced a return to Miami to play alongside her twin sister, Hanna.

Nevertheless, Van Lith was unbothered by Cavinder’s decision to leave the program.“It’s a non-factor for me,” Van Lith said.“If she had stayed and I did go to TCU, I’d have loved to play with her.”Van Lith transferred into LSU last season after playing three seasons at Louisville, which included a Final Four berth.At LSU, Van Lith’s scoring totals went down as she took on more of a distributor role.

Her final memory at LSU was getting left on an island versus Caitlin Clark in the Elite Eight, as Clark exploded for 41 points and nine made 3-pointers while Iowa avenged its 2023 national championship game loss to LSU.Earlier this month, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey reacted to Van Lith’s decision to transfer.“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.’”Mulkey added: “She had to embrace a change in her mindset of not shooting it 20-30 times a game, but finding wh...