In surprising move, former LSU standout Hailey Van Lith released by Chicago Sky
Van Lith struggled after being drafted with the No. 11 overall pick. She averaged 3.5 points in 29 games following a standout career at Louisville, LSU and TCU
All right, Haley Van with so many people in Louisiana still fascinated by your journey. You’re an Olympic medalist for the rest of your life. How do you feel right now? Knowing that everybody can say, hey, she was *** little part of our history and now she’s part of Olympic history. Yeah, I mean, the year building up to when I made the scene, I was at LSU and those are the fans and the people that helped me be the player I needed to be to perform on this stage. So I definitely always appreciate their support, the love they’ve continually showed me. Um And they definitely have *** piece of why I ended up here. I know that there’s *** destination for everybody but the journey, Louisville Baton Rouge Olympics, do you kind of have time to think about how special it’s been because not everybody gets to experience the things you have experienced through basketball. Yeah, it truly has been such *** special and unique journey. And um when I look back on it, all the special people that I never would have met had it not happened. You just, you know, it was meant to be and I was meant to be in Baton Rouge for the time that I was there. And it was really *** part of my plan, part of my journey. So, um when you, when it’s happening in the moment, you can’t always realize it. But when you look back, you’re like, man, like that had to happen for me to get where I was. So I’m very grateful for it all. And just final question here, I remember 96 to give my age away in beach beach volleyball at the Olympics. The first time beach volley has grown into something special. You may be at the forefront of three X three. Does that make you proud knowing that this sport could potentially continue to grow at the Olympics? Yeah, 100%. I think it means *** lot to me to have invested my time into it early. You know, I feel like I’m *** part of the groundwork of it and I really, I’ve given *** lot of my life to it, *** lot of my summers and, you know, it’s been really good to me three on three and you know, the organizations that run it, they’ve done *** great job of involving me and giving me every opportunity. So, um you know, we kinda help each other out *** little bit, but I’m super proud to be one of the baseline people for three on three and I just can’t wait to see how it grows. I know it’s just gonna blow up. All right. And if anybody down the road wants to send you anything from Louisiana, they know where you are in Texas. Now, if you need boon and crawfish, any of that good stuff, I’m sure they can miss it. I miss it. I’m sure they can find you. Haley. Congratulations. Thank you very much back to you.
In surprising move, former LSU standout Hailey Van Lith released by Chicago Sky
Van Lith struggled after being drafted with the No. 11 overall pick. She averaged 3.5 points in 29 games following a standout career at Louisville, LSU and TCU
Updated: 7:21 PM CDT May 4, 2026
The Chicago Sky waived point guard Hailey Van Lith after drafting her in the first round last year and signed guard Natasha Cloud on Monday.Van Lith struggled after being drafted with the No. 11 overall pick. She averaged 3.5 points in 29 games following a standout career at Louisville, LSU and TCU.Cloud has averaged 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 10 seasons with Washington, Phoenix and New York. She averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 assists for the Liberty last season.The Sky also waived second-round picks Maddy Westbeld and Aicha Coulibaly on Monday.Chicago opens the season at expansion Portland on Saturday. The Sky went 10-34 and tied for last in the WNBA a year ago. They made a series of big moves in the offseason, most notably trading two-time All-Star Angel Reese to Atlanta last month.
CHICAGO —
The Chicago Sky waived point guard Hailey Van Lith after drafting her in the first round last year and signed guard Natasha Cloud on Monday.
Van Lith struggled after being drafted with the No. 11 overall pick. She averaged 3.5 points in 29 games following a standout career at Louisville, LSU and TCU.
Cloud has averaged 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 10 seasons with Washington, Phoenix and New York. She averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 assists for the Liberty last season.
The Sky also waived second-round picks Maddy Westbeld and Aicha Coulibaly on Monday.
Chicago opens the season at expansion Portland on Saturday. The Sky went 10-34 and tied for last in the WNBA a year ago. They made a series of big moves in the offseason, most notably trading two-time All-Star Angel Reese to Atlanta last month.