The Star in Van Lith…
Hailey van Lith has dazzled audiences across the nation and even taken her talents global, but her small town of Cashmere, Washington, population 3,000, is not where you would expect a 5-star, number 1 ranked guard in the nation to call home.
Four years of staggering point totals and incredible performances for packed gyms won over the little town of Cashmere; as she entered high school, she also started hearing from the best of the best division 1 college coaches. Geno Auriemma. Dawn Staley. Kelly Graves. Everyone wanted her. She is a 3-time gold medalist for Team USA basketball and was featured by SLAM magazine this past year. Her popularity is unlike anything that the high school girl’s basketball scene has ever experienced. She has more followers on Instagram than almost every WNBA and college player, but she lets her game do the talking.
A near-perfect senior season was only missing one thing, a state championship. Winning state is about the only thing she didn’t accomplish though. Hailey became Washington’s all-time leading scorer with 2,994 points, passing Davenport’s Jennifer Stinson who finished with 2,881 in 1995. Her averages during her senior season were 32.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.2 steals. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi attended one of her games in January and she was the only player in Washington state to be selected to the McDonald’s All American game and Jordan Brand Classic, both of which were cancelled due to coronavirus concerns.
On November 16th, 2019 Hailey announced her commitment to Coach Jeff Walz and the University of Louisville. She hopes to take her game and Louisville women’s basketball to new heights in the winter. Don’t be surprised to see Hailey putting up big numbers next March in the NCAA tournament, she’s used to playing under pressure.
