Hailey Van Lith is going to be an Olympian.
On Wednesday, USA Basketball announced the roster for the women’s 3×3 team at the Paris Olympics, and the college All-American, who will play at her third school in three years this fall, is on the roster. Van Lith will be joined by Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink, 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream and Cierra Burdick, a former star at Tennessee.
It’s been a whirlwind last 18 months for Van Lith, to say the least.
One of the first athletes to cash in on NIL, Van Lith was an All-American at Louisville in 2022-23 who transferred in the offseason to LSU, joining the defending national champion Tigers before her fourth year. Though she was heralded as the best transfer available in the portal that offseason, Van Lith struggled in Baton Rouge. That was put on full display in LSU’s Elite Eight game vs. Iowa, where Caitlin Clark went off for 41 points, mostly with Van Lith guarding her (Iowa won 94-87). Her draft stock plummeted. Though LSU coach Kim Mulkey said she hoped Van Lith would return for her COVID year, the 5-foot-7 combo guard hit the transfer portal again, ultimate landing at TCU.
In Paris she’ll be joined by fellow Olympic rookie Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Howard, who…
