Hailey Van Lith’s rookie 12 months hasn’t gone in accordance with plan.
The Sky’s No. 11 draft choose was supposed to return in and be taught underneath one of many all-time nice level guards, Courtney Vandersloot — on the street to probably being the group’s level guard of the longer term.
However Vandersloot tore her ACL simply seven video games in, setting off a scramble to fill the function. The job in the end fell to veteran Rachel Banham, whereas Van Lith was left to navigate a tough adjustment to the professionals.
She’s capturing simply 17% from three and cracking the rotation intermittently, averaging 13 minutes per recreation. Early on, she mentioned the tempo of the league left her feeling sped up.
It’s a typical situation for younger guards in a league the place everybody is greater, quicker and smarter. The Sky’s main scorer, Ariel Atkins, remembers it nicely and mentioned it’s particularly powerful for gamers who at all times relied on their velocity.
“As soon as she learns to start out and cease and be capable to use her velocity when she desires to versus when persons are making her use it, that can be large for her,” Atkins advised the Solar-Instances.
To assist her alongside, the Sky’s employees has pressured “much less is extra.” In school, Van Lith acquired used to being the focus of the offense, however now coach Tyler Marsh desires her to simplify her recreation.
“Loads of the movie we watch, a whole lot of the drills we break down is simply to assist me chill out,” Van Lith mentioned. “We realized that I wanted any manner doable to simply gradual me down in order that I can play regular.”
Her greatest displaying got here in a win towards the Solar, when she scored 16 factors enjoying principally off the ball. The employees put her in triple-threat conditions somewhat than live-dribble ones, and it labored.
That was one other shock. Van Lith got here into the league considering she needed to be some extent guard to succeed, however she’s found she will be able to play off the ball as nicely. Marsh sees that as a optimistic, noting how the league is trending towards combo guards.
“She possesses a whole lot of those self same traits,” Marsh mentioned. “Her means to play off the catch, her means to relocate and get behind the road and play in area. She’s acquired some means to provoke offense and play in ball screens.”
The issue now’s simply getting her on the ground. Van Lith missed three video games in late July with an ankle damage and remains to be coping with lingering points from school.
“It’s not a transparent reduce damage, it’s an overuse factor,” Van Lith mentioned. “The one manner I could make it go away is that if I ended enjoying. And that’s probably not a chance proper now. So a whole lot of what we’re doing is ache administration.”
She has been again within the rotation for 5 consecutive video games, although minutes are restricted because the Sky combine new level guard Sevgi Uzun. The Turkish veteran began towards Connecticut earlier this week, and Marsh sees potential to pair her with Van Lith to place extra ballhandlers on the ground.
Van Lith mentioned she’s beginning to really feel extra snug with the tempo, however continues to work on it together with her participant growth coach.
“The truth that she’s even interested by it’s a step in the appropriate path,” Atkins mentioned.
To draft Van Lith, the Sky gave up a 2026 first-round choose, an indication of their perception she may form the franchise’s future. The query is whether or not her rookie season marks a daily detour, or an early signal the Sky’s plan might have rewriting.
