Two teams in five weeks had concluded she was not worth the roster spot.
Hailey Van Lith, once among college basketball's most celebrated names and an Olympian, has been released by a second WNBA team in under a month — a quiet but telling reminder that the distance between promise and professional belonging is rarely as short as a draft position implies. The Connecticut Sun waived her Thursday to make room for a returning player, closing a nine-game chapter that produced modest numbers and no secure foothold. Her story joins a long tradition of athletes who arrive at the professional threshold carrying the full weight of expectation, only to find that the door opens more slowly — or not at all — on the other side.
- Two WNBA teams in five weeks have decided Van Lith is not worth a roster spot, a pattern that is beginning to look less like bad luck and more like a structural mismatch.
- Her Connecticut stint ended with a quiet final line — seven points, no assists, two turnovers in thirteen minutes — in a loss that seemed to seal her fate before the official announcement came.
- The Sun's decision was driven by the return of Leïla Lacan, a higher-drafted player with stronger professional credentials, leaving Van Lith with no leverage and no runway.
- Her college stardom, Olympic bronze medal, and NIL marketability built a compelling pre-draft narrative, but none of those credentials have converted into sustainable WNBA production.
- The league's depth and roster scarcity mean Van Lith now faces an open and uncertain question: whether any franchise will offer her the time and stability needed to close the gap between her potential and her performance.
Hailey Van Lith's professional basketball journey suffered another setback Thursday when the Connecticut Sun waived her after nine games — the second time in less than a month that a WNBA team had moved on from her. The immediate cause was the activation of Leïla Lacan, the tenth overall pick from the 2024 draft, whose return from injury made Van Lith expendable.
Her nine games with Connecticut had been uneven at best. She averaged 8.1 points and 2.2 assists, started three times, and never quite seized the opportunity in front of her. Her final appearance — a 71-61 loss to Portland — yielded seven points, no assists, and two turnovers in thirteen minutes.
The Chicago Sky had selected her eleventh overall in the 2024 draft, but her rookie season across twenty-nine games produced only 3.5 points and 1.6 assists per night. They waived her on May 4. Connecticut followed suit less than four weeks later.
The arc of Van Lith's career had once pointed sharply upward. She was a marquee name at Louisville, a high-profile transfer to LSU, and then a resurgent final season at TCU that persuaded scouts she belonged in the lottery. She also won a bronze medal in 3x3 basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics, adding international credibility to an already marketable profile.
But the professional game has so far refused to honor those credentials with consistent opportunity. The question hanging over her now is whether another franchise will offer her a chance — and whether, if one does, she can finally bridge the distance between the player she was celebrated as and the player she has shown herself to be.
Hailey Van Lith's professional basketball career hit another wall on Thursday when the Connecticut Sun released her after nine games, marking the second time in less than a month that a WNBA team had deemed her expendable. The move came as Connecticut activated Leïla Lacan, the tenth overall pick from the 2024 draft, who had been sidelined and was returning to action after averaging 10.4 points and 3.7 assists the previous season.
Van Lith's brief Connecticut tenure had been unremarkable. In her nine appearances, she averaged 8.1 points and 2.2 assists per game. In the team's most recent outing—a 71-61 loss to Portland on Wednesday—she had managed seven points, no assists, and two turnovers in thirteen minutes of play. Three of her nine games had been starts, but the opportunity to establish herself never materialized.
This waiver came just weeks after the Chicago Sky had cut her loose on May 4. The Sky had selected Van Lith with the eleventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, but her rookie season had been a struggle. Across twenty-nine games, she averaged only 3.5 points and 1.6 assists while playing just 12.4 minutes per contest. The promise that had carried her into the first round had not translated to professional production.
Van Lith's path to this moment had been marked by momentum and then stalling. At Louisville, she had been one of college basketball's most visible stars, a player whose name and image carried real commercial weight during the era of name, image, and likeness deals. A transfer to LSU had not gone as planned, and her college career had seemed to be fading. But at TCU, in what was meant to be a redemptive final season, she had played well enough to convince NBA scouts that she deserved a lottery pick.
She had also represented the United States in international competition, winning a bronze medal in 3x3 basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That credential, along with her college pedigree and her marketability, had positioned her as a prospect worth investing in early.
Yet the gap between college dominance and professional competence had proven wider than her draft position suggested it would be. Two teams in five weeks had concluded that she was not worth the roster spot. The question now is whether any other WNBA franchise will take a chance on her, or whether Van Lith's professional career will continue to contract with each passing opportunity.
Citações Notáveis
The Connecticut Sun has activated Leïla Lacan. In a corresponding move, Hailey Van Lith has been waived.— Connecticut Sun announcement
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How does a first-round pick fall out of the league this fast?
The gap between college and the WNBA is steeper than most people realize. Van Lith was a star in college, but that doesn't always mean you can score or create at a professional pace. She wasn't getting minutes, and when she did, the numbers didn't justify keeping her.
But she was drafted eleventh. That's not a flyer on a late pick.
Right. Which makes it worse in some ways. The Sky invested real draft capital in her, and it didn't work. By the time Connecticut picked her up, they were probably hoping for a different outcome, but nine games told them the same story Chicago had already learned.
Was there something specific that went wrong, or just a general mismatch?
The source material doesn't say. But look at the numbers: 3.5 points a game as a rookie, then 8.1 with Connecticut. She wasn't getting the ball, wasn't creating offense, wasn't doing enough defensively to earn minutes on reputation alone. In the WNBA, you have to produce immediately.
Does this happen often to high draft picks?
Not usually this quickly. Most first-round picks get at least a full season or two. Two waivers in a month is unusual and suggests both teams saw the same problem and decided it wasn't fixable on their timeline.
What happens to her now?
She could sign with another team's training camp or practice squad, or she might be done. The WNBA is small—there are only twelve teams. Getting cut twice in a month makes it harder to convince anyone else to take a risk.