2025 WNBA Draft: Chicago Sky select Hailey Van Lith with No. 11 pick
Chicago Sky WNBA Draft: Tina Nguyen recaps the night
The Chicago Sky are continuing to build their young core through the WNBA Draft.
The Chicago Sky grabbed a second first-round pick Monday night, who was a former teammate of Angel Reese.
With the 11th overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Sky have selected Hailey Van Lith out of TCU.
Van Lith also played for Louisville and LSU before taking TCU to its first-ever Elite Eight.
Across her time at Louisville, LSU and TCU, Van Lith averaged 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 42.2% from the field, 33.8% from three and 84.0% from the line in her career.
"Hailey Van Lith made an impact on multiple contending teams across her collegiate and international career, and we expect her winning ability to translate," Sky General Manager Jeff Pagliocca said. "We’re excited to add her talent and versatility to the Sky."
What the Sky are getting in Hailey Van Lith
Van Lith has familiarity with the Chicago Sky. She's already played with Angel Reese.
Reese and Van Lith played for a season at LSU during the 2023-2024 college basketball season.
"She’s a dawg, man," Van Lith said at the draft when asked about teamming up with Reese. "She turns up the intensity of everyone around her."
Still, Van Lith is a player who brings shooting, stamina and energy to the Sky.
Van Lith is the all-time NCAA record holder for games played and started with 172 and minutes played with 5,692. She's played with head coaches Jeff Walz, Kim Mulkey and Mark Campbell.
In transferring to TCU, Van Lith energized a Horned Frog program with her play and took TCU to new heights. Her college experience helped, but it was a difficult journey for her.
"It's been certainly a journey," Van Lith said after TCU's Elite Eight loss to Texas. "Nothing I expected. It was hard. It was a lot of nights of being like… God has put this thing on my heart to be great, but it's not working out right now."
Now, as a 23-year-old WNBA Draftee, Van Lith can say she's found who she is.
"A lot of times I had to look at myself in the mirror and just be like, what do you want, Hailey? Who are you?" Van Lith said. "I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful for the fact that He gave me a hard journey."
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The Chicago Sky are continuing to build their young core through the WNBA Draft.
How Hailey Van Lith fits with the Chicago Sky
In one offseason, the Sky changed the outlook of their guard rotation.
Van Lith now comes to Chicago and joins a guard rotation that has Courtney Vandersloot, Kia Nurse, Moriah Jefferson and Rachel Banham.
Plenty know Van Lith for her clutch moments in NCAA Tournaments. She's made plenty of them with multiple teams. But, she's versatile offensively. She can share the ball and score it.
Van Lith hold the TCU single-season record for most points (680) and assists (204), both records she set in one season at TCU.
Van Lith earned a bronze medal with the 2024 Olympic 3x3 team and also won gold at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup. Van Lith is a seven-time FIBA medalist, and has five gold medals.