Hailey Van Lith, who starred for the the Louisville Cardinals on their Final Four run in 2022 and Sweet 16 run in 2023, has entered the transfer portal and is headed elsewhere to finish her college career. The school announced Saturday that the third-year guard, who'll graduate with a finance degree in May, will forgo her final year of eligibility at Louisville.
"We thank Hailey for her contributions to this program, this school and this community.," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said in a statement. "She has done everything we have asked of her over the past three years, and we wish her the very best in her final collegiate season and beyond."
Van Lith is a "do not contact" prospect in the portal, according to multiple reports, meaning she'll reach out to the destinations she prefers rather than schools reaching out to her. Being listed as a "do not contact" can mean a prospect has their preferred destination in mind.
The junior from Wenatchee, Washington, was a McDonald's High School All-American before making her way across the country to Louisville where she became the 12th-leading scorer in school history while also twice being named first-team All-ACC. Her lights shined brightest at Louisville in the NCAA Tournament over the past two seasons, helping to lead the Cardinals to a national semifinal appearance in 2022 and again to the second weekend of the Big Dance in 2023 where the Cardinals fell to to eventual national runner-up Iowa. Over nine NCAA Tournament games the last two seasons, Van Lith averaged better than 21 points per game.
Van Lith will not only bring scoring to wherever she lands next, but a swagger and intense reputation on the court that she talked about following the Cardinals' loss to Iowa in the NCAA Tournament.
"I think I have a lot of great people around me who are willing to understand me. And I think they understand sometimes when that intensity comes out it's not anything that is bad intentioned. It's me pushing other people to be great, pushing myself to be great and wanting to win. And I think that my teammates and my coaches appreciate that about me, so they don't hold my intensity against me," Van Lith said.
She'll also bring a host of eyes as one of the top women in college sports NIL earnings. According to On3, Van Lith entered last season in the top 10 among all women -- and fourth among basketball players -- in NIL valuation, with more than 788,000 social media followers and deals with Adidas and Dick's Sporting Goods, among others.
