This week, Hailey Van Lith’s name popped up in a rumor that gained traction on social media. According to this rumor, Van Lith has chosen to take a sharp u-turn in her basketball career.
On Tuesday, a netizen calling himself Shane Tuttle tweeted that the former Chicago Sky guard had decided to reconsider her stint in the WNBA.
“NEWS: Hailey Van Lith has entered the transfer portal after being waived by the Chicago Sky and is expected to return to LSU for the 2026-27 season. Van Lith will reunite with Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers as she enters the next chapter of her career.”
This tweet about Hailey Van Lith, though, bears no truth whatsoever. For one, no major media outlets have independently confirmed that Van Lith has even considered this outlandish scenario. In addition, the Shane Tuttle account explicitly states in its description: “Everything I do is Satire.”
Van Lith did enter the transfer portal in her college days, when she left TCU in early April 2024 and announced her move to LSU a few weeks later.
Recently, there has been a trend of professional hoopers taking advantage of certain technicalities to explore the possibility of moving to a college program. However, there’s no confirmation that Van Lith can actually make this move or is even thinking about it in the first place.
“There’s a Bright Future for Her in This League”: Sky HC Releases Statement on Hailey Van Lith’s Release From Team
Ironically, Hailey Van Lith’s next landing spot is in question right now as she was waived by the Sky at the start of this week. In a statement, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh acknowledged her vast potential while also talking about the difficult decision that was made.
“For us, unfortunately, sometimes it comes down to a numbers game and it’s not necessarily anything that, that Hailey did or didn’t do. She’s another one that works incredibly hard…[she’s] incredibly tough as well…There’s a bright future for her in this league, whether it’s in Chicago or elsewhere.”
Marsh added that the signing of veteran guard Natasha Cloud contributed to the “business” decision that was made to waive Van Lith.