Kim Mulkey has no issues with touted offseason acquisition Hailey Van Lith’s decision to transfer after just one uneven season with LSU.
“Her aspirations were to get drafted this year, and she realized, ‘I need another year and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position,” Mulkey said at a team banquet, according to Nola.com. “And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well.”
Van Lith arrived in Baton Rouge with grand expectations after three fantastic seasons with Louisville, joining a loaded roster that aimed to repeat as national champs.
But the partnership did not work out as planned for either party.
Van Lith shifted from an off-ball role with Louisville to being the Tigers’ point guard, which came with a reduction in production.
After averaging 15.4 points on 13.2 shots per game with the Cardinals, Van Lith tallied just 11.6 points on 9.9 shots per game with the Tigers.
She also went from a 42.2 percent shooter to hitting just 37.8 percent of her shots, although her 3-point percentage slightly improved (33.7 to 33.9 percent).
“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 per Nola.com, “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 who’s open and getting them the ball. And sometimes it was hard because she would be pressured, and she’d be pounding the heck out of that ball.”
Van Lith exited the program following a poor showing in the Elite Eight where she could not stop Iowa’s Caitlin Clark while being left in isolation against the projected No. 1 draft pick.
Clark torched LSU for 41 points while tying the NCAA record with nine 3-pointers. The Hawkeyes’ superstar hit 13-of-29 shots and 9-of-20 from deep.
Van Lith, meanwhile, had nine points of 2-of-10 shooting, including 1-of-6 from 3.
With that loss, the Tigers fell short of reaching the Final Four in their attempt to repeat.
Mulkey said Van Lith “lived up to her commitment” to play one season for the Tigers, and the guard will now be looking for her third team in three years.
She’s ranked ninth among transfer portal players, per The Athletic.
“Hailey Van Lith is one of the hardest working players that I’ve ever coached,” Mulkey said, per Nola.com.
