Hailey Van Lith entered women’s college basketball with just as much fanfare as Caitlin Clark or Paige Bueckers in the 2020 class. Now, she has resurfaced with a team full of veteran transfers at TCU that is on the way to a Sweet 16 after beating Van Lith’s former Louisville team on Saturday night.
While Van Lith is back at the top of her game and a likely top pick in this year’s WNBA Draft and ready to lead the Horned Frogs on a deep run, she is also using the moment to share her intense mental health journey with her followers and sports fans everywhere.
Postgame at her locker after the win over Louisville, Van Lith opened up on how the media scrutiny and social media attention she faced as a McDonald’s All-American and one of the best women hoopers ever to come out of Washington state led to significant challenges early in college.
“The way that I got exposed to the media and social media at such a young age, I really struggled with mental health things,” Van Lith said. “When I was younger and in college, I was suicidal, I was heavily medicated. And I felt trapped. And you would never know because I was having a ton of success on the court, but internally and in life in general, I was ready to be done.”
In addition to her elite talent as a teenager in Washington, Van Lith also garnered additional coverage and fan attention due to being one of the athletes Kobe Bryant took under his wing before his death in February 2020. Van Lith also was in a relationship with former Gonzaga star and top NBA Draft pick Jalen Suggs.
When Van Lith got to Louisville, she helped lead the program back to the Final Four in her freshman season — and again her junior year. After that, Van Lith joined up with Angel Reese at LSU, only to fall out of favor with head coach Kim Mulkey amid a down season.
However, it sounds like at some point along the way and through her fifth NCAA season, Van Lith worked through her struggles and is feeling better than ever. She wants to share more of her story in order for fans to see the light in their difficult moments.
“To come from that to this, is incredible. And I have been praying all year like, ‘God, I know you’ve given me this testimony to share it with the world and shed your light,'” Van Lith said. “And I think this is the year and this is the moment that he wants people to know my story and how he has taken me from the depths of wanting to die to this moment of loving life.”
A recent mock draft from Bleacher Report suggests Van Lith could go in the top-10 of this year’s WNBA Draft. But in the meantime, Van Lith is feeling better and looking to finally get an NCAA championship.