It has been a turbulent year for Hailey Van Lith. The former first-round pick was waived by the Chicago Sky before the season, claimed by the Connecticut Sun two days later, waived again after nine games and then brought back by Connecticut on a developmental contract.
Connecticut has struggled through its first season with Van Lith, sitting at 8-25. The second-year guard has averaged 6.1 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists this season. She is also shooting 45.2% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in her 14 appearances, including three as a starter.
Amid a difficult season, Van Lith recently appeared on the “House of Maher” podcast to discuss her career and the changing landscape of women’s basketball.
Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images
Asked about the future of the WNBA and whether the league needs more teams, she pointed to the growing number of talented players competing for increasingly limited opportunities.
“The rate at which players are coming in is far exceeding the rate at which players are retiring. Roster spots and money and team availability is so hard to come by. That’s why all the expansion proposals and teams have been so big the last couple years.”
Van Lith also credited the Golden State Valkyries for proving the potential of a new WNBA market.
“The Valkyries kinda started it. They showed that these teams are good investments. They are worth these owners investing into. It’s been good so far, but honestly expansion is so needed because we have so much talent coming in.”
The league has already expanded to 15 teams with the Valkyries and added the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo this season, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia also scheduled to join in the coming years.
The WNBA has already seen the likes of Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers, Atlanta Dream’s Angel Reese and current rookie of the year favorite Olivia Miles explode into the scene.
But the women’s talent pipeline is only getting stronger, with college stars like JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Madison Booker and Sarah Strong projected to shape the next wave of WNBA talent.
