How different chapters of basketball prepared Hailey Van Lith for the WNBA and Chicago Sky

CHICAGO - As Hailey Van Lith took in her welcome to Chicago at The Metropolitan on the 67th floor of Willis Tower, she took a second to be candid.

"I won't lie, there's not a lot of schoolwork getting done right now," Van Lith admitted. "Sorry to my professors, but I've just been trying to soak it all in because this is really the last little bit that I get to sit back and enjoy before it gets real."

It's going to get very real for Van Lith. Chicago Sky training camp starts next week. She's just a few weeks removed from carrying TCU to an Elite Eight berth. She went from being the star of her team to being a reserve guard on the Chicago Sky behind Kia Nurse, Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins.

All of this does not daunt the No. 11 overall pick.

She has some experience to compare it to.

"I was telling someone the other day, it kind of feels like how the Olympics felt," Van Lith said. "It's like a huge sprint and there's so many things going on and you don't really know what's going on and then, but then when you look back you're like, wow, that was incredible." 

As much of a casual flex as it was to compare her position now to competing in the Olympics, it was an example of how well-traveled Van Lith is as a basketball player.

She's played in 172 college basketball games. She's been to the Elite Eight with three different college programs. She won bronze with the 2024 Olympic 3x3 team. She also won gold at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup. 

Van Lith is a seven-time FIBA medalist. Five of those medals are gold medals.

As Van Lith prepares to enter the next chapter of her basketball career, she can dwell on that Olympic experience. Not only did it prepare her for what was to come, but it was a confidence boost for her like no other.

Van Lith had to try out for that team. That was something easier said than done.

"My Olympics 3x3 experience in particular, just trying out for that team was a huge confidence builder for me," Van Lith said. "Knowing that I was coming to the league next year because I was trying out against WNBA All-Stars. There was a lot of elite WNBA talent at that tryout and I proved that I could fit in into that roster and they selected me. Like, they handpicked me to be on that team." 

Hailey Van Lith speaks at her introductory press conference at The Metropolitan on the 67th floor of the Willis Tower on April 17, 2025, in Chicago, Ill. (Chris Kwiecinski/FOX 32 Chicago)

Van Lith played with Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard on that team. Hamby and Howard are established veterans in the WNBA. It took Van Lith some time to adjust to the different game, and to figure out what her role was. The 3x3 women's team started 0-3 in the Games, but rallied to clinch bronze.

In the bronze medal game against Canada, Van Lith had a game-high six points and grabbed two rebounds. 

"I felt like I really used that experience to learn. Okay, this is how I set my big-time players up, and then this is where I fit in, where I can steal a layup or I can go one-on-one here because they're spacing," Van Lith said. "I think that that experience will be very helpful for me going into my rookie year."

Van Lith learned how to space properly. She learned how to set up her teammates how to adjust her play to the different styles her teammates played with.

This wasn't like college, where Van Lith played with future WNBA players like Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow, Emily Engstler and Kianna Smith. She was playing with current WNBA players and adjusted to their skill level.

Now, she'll do the same as a rookie.

"That my role on that team was huge for setting me up for what my rookie season will be like," Van Lith said. "It was my job to help them be really successful, and when the team needed me to contribute and score and be tough, make tough plays, rebound, get stops on defense."

This includes learning from Vandersloot, Nurse and Atkins, but it also includes playing with Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

"I've played against Kamilla a lot of times," Van Lith said. "I've never got to play with her, so I'm excited to be on the receiving end of that."

Now, her excitement and confidence run concurrent.

Then she can start achieving her professional goals.

"Be in shape," Van Lith said. "As long as you're in shape, you can take the bumps and the bruises as they come, but if you're gassed that's a hard place to be in training camp. My one goal is to be in the best shape that I can."