After winning its first national title this spring, the LSU women’s basketball team looks primed to repeat.
In addition to returning stars [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] landed two of the top transfers in the country in guard [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and forward [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag], who come from Louisville and DePaul, respectively.
Van Lith in particular has faced some outside criticism for her decision to join the Tigers, which many have theorized was a calculated choice based on name, image and likeness money and the desire to win a championship.
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Van Lith refuted that idea.
“I think, you know, with NIL being a popular topic of conversation and even, like, the ring chasing rumors? I think, you know, those are logical things for people who don’t know the situation to attract to for an explanation as to why it happened,” Van Lith said. “But it was a decision made from the standpoint of, ‘Is Hailey happy?’. And, ‘Can Hailey attain happiness in this situation?’. That’s what I made my decision off of.”
LSU was the only school Van Lith officially visited, but it wasn’t the only one she was considering.
In the same interview, she said that she also considered South Carolina and Stanford but that her prior relationship with Mulkey ultimately made the difference.
Repeating as champions in college basketball is easier said than done, but with an absolutely loaded roster that features big-time additions like Van Lith, Mulkey’s team certainly looks like the early favorite.
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