NEW YORK — Hailey Van Lith shared some hugs with her family and then a kiss with NBA player Jalen Suggs, who was thrilled that the Chicago Sky selected his girlfriend with the No. 11 pick in the WNBA draft Monday night.
So was Angel Reese.
Van Lith and Reese, college teammates at LSU, will be reunited as pros and can’t wait to get back to work.
“We both are just tough dogs on the court,” Van Lith said. “I mean, she’s willing to do things that aren’t pretty to win, and I’m talking about aggressive rebounding, defense, things that aren’t what we call sexy basketball.
“She’s willing to execute those things to get a win. And I think that I share that character trait with her.”
That’s part of what drew the Sky to Van Lith, who showed those traits as the first player to play for three schools that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament: in 2021, ’22 and ’23 at Louisville, in 2024 at LSU and this past season at TCU.
LSU was attempting to defend its 2023 national title when Caitlin Clark and Iowa stopped the Tigers in a regional final in Reese’s final college game.
Now, she and Van Lith will see what they can do together as pros.
“We ain’t do it right the first time,” Reese wrote on X. “Let’s run it backkkkk.”
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Suggs, who plays for the Orlando Magic, was standing and smiling after Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called Van Lith’s name. Van Lith waved back toward where he was standing, then eventually walked over for a kiss and hug.
Suggs also was there to cheer in the NCAA Tournament, wearing Van Lith’s jersey during the Horned Frogs’ run to the Elite Eight.
Reese was supporting as well. Van Lith said the former teammates remained in contact during the season, when Van Lith was voted Big 12 player of the year at her new school.
Now they will try to help the Sky rebound from a 13-27 record in Reese’s rookie season, when she grabbed the most rebounds ever by a first-year player.
“We have a very mature relationship, a mutual respect relationship where we both have respect for each other’s game and also the character and the person we are off the court,” Van Lith said. “So mostly I’m just excited to get to be around her again. I think we have a lot of similarities about how we carry ourselves and our mindset on what’s important to us.
“And, you know, she’s a dog, man. She turns up the intensity of everybody around her. So I’m excited to be in that environment with her again, where she can pull more out of me than than I think I have.”