Louisville lands Van Lith, Cashmere basketball commodity
CASHMERE, Wash. (BVM) — It takes a lot of talent to command the attention of one of the greatest basketball players of all-time and Cashmere graduate Hailey Van Lith has no shortage of that on the court.
Prior to a fatal helicopter crash on Jan. 26, NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi, had become fans and supporters of Van Lith’s game. The Bryants had watched her play in high school and worked with her at the Mamba Sports Academy in the Los Angeles area.
Kobe wasn’t the only one to notice the type of star Van Lith is though. After an outstanding four-year varsity career at Cashmere High School, the 5-foot-7 guard finished her prep career as a back-to-back recipient of the Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.
The McDonald’s All-American led the Bulldogs to a near perfect season as a senior averaging 32.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.2 steals per game. Cashmere was undefeated at 24-0 prior to the WIAA Class A state title game where they’d fall to Lynden Christian, 58-55. The Bulldogs finished as state runner-up three times during Van Lith’s high school career.
Although she never went down as a state champion, Van Lith will be remembered as one of Washington’s finest prep players ever. The 18-year-old leaves Cashmere as the state’s all-time leading scorer with 2,994 career points.
Regarded as a top 10 prospect nationally, Van Lith has also competed for USA Basketball winning four gold medals for her country (2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2019 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, 2018 Youth Olympic Games, 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup).
Last fall, Van Lith made her college decision when she opted to sign with the University of Louisville over Baylor University. She joins a top five recruiting class for the Cardinals and a Louisville team that was poised to make their 10th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and build off a 2019 trip to the Elite Eight prior to COVID-19 ending postseason play.
“Hailey Van Lith is recognized as one of the top point guards in her class,” Louisville head women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz said after the Cardinals announced Van Lith’s signing. “She has been an integral part of USA Basketball and I enjoyed coaching her to a gold medal in this past year’s U19 international competition. Hailey brings with her a unique skill set with a mamba mentality. There is no stage too big, nor a shot too difficult to pull off. She has a unique inner confidence and leadership skills well beyond her age. Hailey is purposeful and deliberate in her approach to the game and no doubt Cardinal fans will be lining up to watch her perform.”
A shining star on the court, Van Lith is also quite the role model off of it as well. As part of winning the Gatorade State Player of the Year award, Van Lith chose to donate her $1,000 grant to The Brave Warrior Project through her group Hailey’s Hoopers.
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Hailey Van Lith has already built quite a name for herself in the basketball world and she’ll look to continue doing that in Louisville, Kentucky. Even though she never won a WIAA state girls basketball championship, something tells us that she’ll be hungry to help the Cardinals win their first-ever NCAA national championship.
BVM Sports’ Mike Cianciolo contributed to this article.
