Hailey Van Lith’s Olympic Dream: 3×3 Gold Medal Pursuit Takes Center Stage
Hailey Van Lith is not concerned about where she will wind up in college the next year; instead, her attention is on making the USA Basketball 3×3 Olympic squad this summer.
Van Lith is in Springfield, Massachusetts, for a training camp right now. He will be at The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame early next week, playing in a 3×3 competition.
The 22-year-old guard, who attended LSU and Louisville, has excelled for the United States in 3×3. She participated in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup last year and took home a gold medal with the U18 squad in 2019. After making its debut in Tokyo during the 2021 Games, 3×3 is being offered at the Paris Games for the second time.
“What I remember most is that every game is so unique,” she said of 3×3 play. “The strategy from game to game is so different. You can’t specialize in one thing and make it as a player in 3 on 3. You have to be able to guard every position for at least a couple of seconds.”
Because two of the four players on the American squad must rank in the top 10 of the FIBA rankings for total points scored, Van Lith has a chance to compete in the Paris Games. Fifth place qualifies Van Lith right now.
Van Lith’s game has improved as a result of participating in the training camp alongside other WNBA players, including Dearica Hamby, Allisha Gray, and Rhyne Howard.
“Playing against them and seeing how I’m able to score and not score shows me what I need to get better at,” Van Lith said. “It’s a little taste of the league early.”
She claims that she has not signed anyplace yet regarding where she will play collegiate basketball the following season. Van Lith declined to enter the WNBA draft in favor of playing one more season in college.
“I did take a visit to TCU and am very interested in them, but I took visits to other schools and was very interested in them, too,” she told The Associated Press. “I haven’t made an official commitment, but I’m very close. The ink has not touched the paper for any school.”
Van Lith stated that after LSU’s defeat by Iowa in the Elite Eight this month, she has largely avoided social media. It was not until Saturday afternoon that she even learned that Haley Cavinder had made the decision to return to Miami instead of playing at TCU.
She declared that her decision will not be influenced by Cavinder’s choice.
“It’s a non-factor for me,” Van Lith said. “If she had stayed and I did go to TCU, I’d have loved to play with her.”
In her lone season at LSU, Van Lith averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 assists. She will play for the NCAA defending champs in 2023–2024. Thanks to the extra year the NCAA gives players whose freshmen season was impacted by the epidemic, she can play one more season.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Women’s College Basketball
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