Report: Hailey Van Lith Commits to TCU in Transfer Portal After 1 Season at LSU

Former LSU guard Hailey Van Lith has committed to TCU, according to The Next Hoops' Talia Goodman.

Van Lith entered the transfer portal after spending one season with the Tigers. She struggled with the transition to a point guard role in Kim Mulkey's offense. Her shooting (37.8 percent) and scoring (11.6 points) both fell well below the standards she had set at Louisville.

The hype surrounding Van Lith's original move to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was fully justified. As a junior at Louisville, she averaged 19.6 points and 3.2 assists and put up 20-plus points in each of the Cardinals' four NCAA tournament games.

Last September, ESPN's Michael Voepel projected the 5'7" playmaker to go fifth overall in the 2024 WNBA draft. Her stock steadily declined as the 2023-24 unfolded, though, to the point where she probably would've been a second-rounder at best if she had declared now.

The lasting image of Van Lith in an LSU uniform is of her getting torched by Iowa's Caitlin Clark in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Heading west to TCU will allow her to write a different final chapter to her college career and perhaps put her back in the first-round conversation.

The Horned Frogs went 21-12 in Mark Campbell's first season as head coach, their most victories since 2019-20. They won their first 14 games before their roster was ravaged by injuries. A dearth of healthy players forced them to forfeit back-to-back contests in January.

Campbell was already set to return his three highest scorers, guard Madison Conner, center Sedona Prince and guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu. Guard Haley Cavinder will be suiting up as well after briefly stepping away from basketball. Add Van Lith to the mix and this should be a Top 25 squad.

And for Van Lith, thriving in a more secondary role than what she had at Louisville might actually benefit her from a WNBA perspective because teams would have a better idea that she can be effective on or off the ball.