"It's just crazy that we threaten them so much": When TCU's Hailey Van Lith opened up about what she hates the most

By Rotsen Rick Tidoy

Modified Nov 13, 2024 07:10 GMT

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Hailey Van Lith has started a new chapter of her life after her transfer to TCU from LSU in the offseason. She has been attracting attention since her high school days, and this has garnered her many critics. During an appearance on Slam's YouTube channel in 2019, she opened up about dealing with haters and things she dislikes.

She opened the video by highlighting that men have been commenting on women's basketball for years, telling them that they could not make it. Five years later, the NCAA Tournament final set ratings records and outperformed the men's final.

"The No. 1 thing that I hate reading is when these mad old men have to comment on girls basketball," Van Lith told Slam. "It's just crazy that we threaten them so much and their masculinity or whatever. (0:00-0:15)

"Makes them mad that they feel the need to try to tell us that we're never gonna make it and we're always gonna be less than boys. People are always in the comments, saying that we need to go back to the kitchen, like make them a sandwich. Like no, make your own sandwich, and we go make the money." (0:15-0:30)

The video was a part of Slam's "Day in the Life" series, and it followed the then-five-star guard as she spent her day in Cashmere, Washington.

During her senior year in high school, Hailey Van Lith became Washington State's all-time leading scorer, leading Cashmere to a 24-1 record. This eventually led the high school to the Class 1A state title game, though her team lost to Lynden Christian School. She was named tournament MVP.

Angel Reese talked about relationship with former teammate Hailey Van Lith

One of the reasons Hailey Van Lith left LSU for TCU was that she felt she did not really fit into the program, becoming more of a traditional point guard rather than a scorer. When she transferred to TCU, however, she was back to her old self and led the Horned Frogs to a dominant 78-41 win against Houston Baptist in the 2024-25 season opener.

Her former LSU teammate, WNBA All-Star Angel Reese, said Van Lith was distant from everybody else on the LSU team.

"We weren't super close, but I was one of the people closer to her on the team," said Reese about Hailey Van Lith. "She was really distant from everybody else, so I felt bad. I was like, 'Let me get close to her and see who she is' because she was the only white girl on the team, so I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

When Van Lith transferred to TCU, Reese was one of the first to compliment her, commenting on a post that the old Hailey "is backkkkkk!!!!"