At this point it’s safe to say that Head Coach Jeff Walz hit a home-run in landing five-star prospect Hailey Van Lith out of Wenatchee, Washington in the Class of 2020. The west coast southpaw has made a profound impact on the Louisville Cardinals team as she has become the workhorse for Coach Walz as well as an icon in Louisville athletics.
Her fandom even stretches to Louisville native and hip-hop artist Jack Harlow, as shown below in his performance at the 2022 Forecastle Festival.
Van Lith is averaging 36 minutes a game this season and is the face of the women’s basketball program. During her time on the court, she is averaging 20.3 points per game with a season high of 28 points against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Currently sixteen games into her junior season, the 5-foot-7 guard has already etched her name into the collegiate history books on many occasions. This season she added to her list of achievements by recording her 1,000th career point.
Newest member of the 1,000 point club 🙌#GoCards pic.twitter.com/PUHHnFoXIF
— Louisville Women’s Basketball (@LouisvilleWBB) December 29, 2022
Some other achievements she has achieved as a Cardinal include ACC Freshman of the Week twice during her freshman season, All-ACC Academic Team as a freshman, 2020-2021 ACC All-Freshman Team, ACC All-Tournament First Team, All-ACC First Team as a sophomore, NCAA WIchita Regional Most Outstanding Player as a sophomore, and she reached number 9 overall in ESPN’s Top 25 Players List entering her junior season.
HVL also represented USA in the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series in Montreal, Canada and Voiron, France in 2021 where her teams finished with a combined 8-4 record.