“Less is more”: Hailey Van Lith searches for her niche with Sky
Hailey Van Lith’s rookie year hasn’t gone according to plan.
The Sky’s No. 11 draft pick was supposed to come in and learn under one of the all-time great point guards, Courtney Vandersloot — on the road to potentially being the team’s point guard of the future.
But Vandersloot tore her ACL just seven games in, setting off a scramble to fill the role. The job ultimately fell to veteran Rachel Banham, while Van Lith was left to navigate a difficult adjustment to the pros.
She’s shooting just 17% from three and cracking the rotation intermittently, averaging 13 minutes per game. Early on, she said the pace of the league left her feeling sped up.
It’s a common issue for young guards in a league where everyone is bigger, faster and smarter. The Sky’s leading scorer, Ariel Atkins, remembers it well and said it’s especially tough for players who always relied on their speed.
“Once she learns to start and stop and be able to use her speed when she wants to versus when people are making her use it, that will be big for her,” Atkins told the Sun-Times.
To help her along, the Sky’s staff has stressed “less is more.” In college, Van Lith got used to being the focal point of the offense, but now coach Tyler Marsh wants her to simplify her game.
“A lot of the film we watch, a lot of the drills we break down is just to help me relax,” Van Lith said. “We realized that I needed any way possible to just slow me down so that I can play normal.”
Her best showing came in a win against the Sun, when she scored 16 points playing mostly off the ball. The staff put her in triple-threat situations rather than live-dribble ones, and it worked.
That was another surprise. Van Lith came into the league thinking she had to be a point guard to succeed, but she’s discovered she can play off the ball as well. Marsh sees that as a positive, noting how the league is trending toward combo guards.
“She possesses a lot of those same characteristics,” Marsh said. “Her ability to play off the catch, her ability to relocate and get behind the line and play in space. She’s got some ability to initiate offense and play in ball screens.”
The problem now is just getting her on the floor. Van Lith missed three games in late July with an ankle injury and is still dealing with lingering issues from college.
“It’s not a clear cut injury, it’s an overuse thing,” Van Lith said. “The only way I can make it go away is if I stopped playing. And that’s not really a possibility right now. So a lot of what we’re doing is pain management.”
She has been back in the rotation for five consecutive games, though minutes are limited as the Sky integrate new point guard Sevgi Uzun. The Turkish veteran started against Connecticut earlier this week, and Marsh sees potential to pair her with Van Lith to put more ballhandlers on the floor.
Van Lith said she’s starting to feel more comfortable with the pace, but continues to work on it with her player development coach.
“The fact that she’s even thinking about it is a step in the right direction,” Atkins said.
To draft Van Lith, the Sky gave up a 2026 first-round pick, a sign of their belief she could shape the franchise’s future. The question is whether her rookie season marks a regular detour, or an early sign the Sky’s plan may need rewriting.