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Connecticut Sun waive former college star Hailey Van Lith in surprising roster move

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp05/28/26

Former Louisville, LSU and TCU star Hailey Van Lith has been waived by a WNBA team for the second time in the span of the last month. This time, it was the Connecticut Sun who waived her to make room for another roster move.

Van Lith joined the Sun ahead of the 2026 WNBA season after she was waived by the Chicago Sky. The Sky, who took Van Lith with the No. 11 overall draft pick in 2025, waived her on May 4.

Two days later, Hailey Van Lith was claimed off waivers by the Sun. Notably, she was reunited with Connecticut president Jen Rizzotti, who coached Van Lith on the USA 3×3 basketball team at the Paris Olympics.

However, the partnership wasn’t panning out quite as well as the Sun had hoped. Van Lith was averaging 8.1 points, 2.2 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game in nine games. She started three contests.

She was waived despite shooting a career-best from three-point range, albeit on limited attempts. She had connected on 8-of-17 shots from downtown this season, sporting a 47.1% clip from deep.

In her rookie season, Van Lith suited up in just 29 games as she battled an ankle injury at times. She averaged just 3.5 points, 1.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game for the Sky, shooting just 16.1% from three-point range and 33.9% from the floor.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, even as Van Lith attempts to catch on at the pro level. She had a tremendous college career, one in which she reached the Final Four once and the Elite Eight four other times.

Van Lith began her college career at Louisville, where she spent her first three seasons. She averaged 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game as a freshman, leading the Cardinals to the Elite Eight.

From there, she would guide Louisville to the Final Four in 2022 while averaging 14.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. A year later, her final with the Cardinals, Van Lith averaged 19.7 points per game en route to the Elite Eight once more.

She then transferred to defending national champion LSU, but she spent just one season with the Tigers, averaging 11.6 points and 3.6 assists per game. She departed after the season for TCU, where she averaged 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game in her final season, complete with another Elite Eight run.