Angel Reese's new Sky teammate Hailey Van Lith elects to cut Caitlin Clark in start-bench-cut game

Modified Apr 17, 2025 17:29 GMT

The Chicago Sky selected Hailey Van Lith with the 11th pick in this year’s WNBA draft, adding to their young core of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso for the upcoming season. Van Lith is expected to be an important piece for the Sky as they look to find success on the back of Reese's rookie season, in which she earned All-Star honors.

On the sidelines of Monday's draft ceremony, Van Lith played the start-bench-cut game in an interview. Speaking to USA Today Sports, the TCU standout was asked to choose between Diana Taurasi, Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark and who she would start, bench and cut in a hypothetical situation.

“Give flowers to the legend. We are going to start Diana Taurasi,” Van Lith said. “I’m going to bench Sabrina and cut Caitlin."

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Taurasi, who retired after last season, is the winningest player among the three, with three WNBA championships and an MVP award (2009). Meanwhile, Ionescu led the New York Liberty to their first WNBA title last year, while Clark won Rookie of the Year in 2024 and was an All-Star in her first season in the league.

Clark has been Reese’s rival since their collegiate days. They have been pitted against each other since entering the league, creating a rivalry between the Fever and Sky. Clark also had battles with Van Lith when they were still in college.

Hailey Van Lith expresses excitement for reunion with Angel Reese

Hailey Van Lith #11 and Angel Reese #10 of the LSU Lady Tigers react to a call against the Ole Miss Rebels in the third quarter during the semifinals of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 09, 2024 - Source: Getty

Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese were college teammates at LSU in the 2023-2024 season, Reese's last year in college before she entered the WNBA draft. Van Lith spoke about teaming up with Reese after the draft and said:

"Angel has maintained contact with me this whole past year since she's been in the league and I transferred. I really appreciate her. We have a very mature relationship, a very mutual respect relationship, where we both have respect for each other's game and also the character and the person we are off the court.

"So mostly I'm just excited to get to be around her again. I think we have a lot of similarities about how we carry ourselves and our mindset on, you know, what's important to us. And you know, she's a dawg, man."

Hailey Van Lith averaged 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds for the Horned Frogs in her final year in college.

About the author

Rob Andrew Lo is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in the field. Rob studied journalism at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines and his love for sports made this an obvious career to pursue.

Rob's favorite team is the Oklahoma City Thunder. He grew up watching Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and his admiration for them left not only a lasting impression but solidified his fandom.

When not working, Rob loves to play basketball. If he isn't watching or writing about basketball, he can probably be found watching pro wrestling.

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