TCU’s Hailey Van Lith is example for why no women’s basketball player should go pro early | Opinion
Hailey Van Lith is one of those players who it feels like she has been in college for so long that she will soon start to draw Social Security.
If she could, the TCU senior guard would be wise to stay another year.
The last thing a woman’s college basketball player should consider is turning pro early, and that includes USC’s Juju Watkins.
As the WNBA expands, and more money pours into the pro game both in North America and abroad, there will be a push for players to have the ability to leave college early. At the risk of being accused of “mansplaining,” the women’s game is not remotely close to being ready for this jump. It may not be for another decade, or decades.
Van Lith is your case study example of why a player should stay in school for as long as humanly possible. A.) It’s the best time of your life. B.) A player, like Van Lith, can make considerably more money as a college player than as a pro.
On Friday, March 21,, Van Lith led second-seeded TCU to a 73-51 win over 15th-seeded Farleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Schollmaier Arena.
Then on Sunday, she scored 16 points and added nine assists in the Horned Frogs 80-65 win over Louisville, her first college team, the place where she made her name matter.
Whenever TCU’s tourney run ends (it continues on Saturday in the Sweet 16 against Notre Dame), it will conclude Van Lith’s college career that began in 2020 when she was a freshman at the University of Louisville. Five seasons and three colleges later, she will soon have exhausted her eligibility.
To be eligible for the WNBA, “Domestic players are eligible for the draft if they turn 22 during the year of the draft, or graduate from a four-year college within three months of the draft, and have no remaining college eligibility.”
With players such as former Iowa star Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese of LSU, and now USC’s Juju Watkins or UConn’s Paige Bueckers, having established themselves as national names early in their respective college careers, there is growing sentiment that the WNBA should change this rule.
Change it to allow the players who have no interest actually attending college classes to have the choice to make themselves available for the draft.
“It’s a ‘God bless’ that that rule is there,” former USC star Cheryl Miller recently said while appearing on the “All The Smoke” podcast, hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
Miller was the best player during her time at USC, from 1982 to ‘86. That was when NCAA women’s basketball was in its infancy, and she was decades ahead of her time. Long before there was a professional league for women.
“Yes (Watkins) needs to stay ‘til there ‘til the (WNBA) finally can financially (be on its own),” Miller said. “That’s when you’d see me step out and slap somebody; ‘What are you talking about? What are you thinking? You are hurting your brand early. Wait. Wait. Wait. This is your foundation. This is where your money is for right now. Right now.’ It’s backwards (compared to the men).
“Right now the NCAA is where you make your money. The (WNBA) is where you make your fame. That’s your legacy.”
The average salary for a WNBA player is $147,000. Its higher paid players reside in the area of $250K. The minimum salary is $63K.
The figures are not known in detail, but it is safe to Van Lith made considerably more than that in college.
After her mostly “meh” season at LSU, in 2023-’24, Van Lith admitted she considered making herself eligible for the WNBA Draft last year.
WNBA scouts and officials have expressed concerns that her game will not translate well to the pro level. That her time at LSU exposed some flaws that will be a problem in the WNBA. She is currently not projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming WNBA draft.
Her decision to leave LSU for TCU could not have worked any better. In one season, she successfully rehabbed her image as a top player at this level.
She was the only player who was currently in college to play for Team USA Basketball in the 2024 Summer Olympics; that includes men or women, 5 on 5 and 3x3. She was a member of the 3x3 team that won a bronze medal.
She was named the Big 12 player of the year, and she landed product endorsement deals with several brands, including Pizza Hut, LaCroix Water, American Eagle, Gatorade, Powerade, etc.
None of this happens if she turns pro early.
“This is a whole different group of people. The vibe and the mindset you have to be in is pretty similar (to her other NCAA Tournament teams),” said Van Lith, who has previously played in four Elite 8s, and one Final Four.
“At the end of the day I’m excited to play another game, whomever that may be (against). It’s in God’s hands. I have a team that loves me.”
Whatever happens in the rest of this tournament, Hailey Van Lith can say she got the most out of college, which would not have been possible had she been allowed to turn pro early.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 5:22 PM.
