Hailey Van Lith is already a superstar.

The 23-year-old has established herself as one of basketball’s finest stars as she’s already earned two first team All-ACC honours and won the Big 12 Player of the Year award this season.

Van Lith and Angel Reese were teammates at LSUCredit: Getty
Now before she makes her debut in the WNBA this year ahead of April’s draft, she’s now starring as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit rookie.

Styled by hair stylist Paul Norton and makeup artist Katherine Ann Mellinger, Van Lith sported a black halter neck one-piece as she went viral on social media for the cover.

The TCU alumna joins a star-studded cast of student athletes to have been the face of the magazine’s swimsuit edition, including LSU gymnastic sensation Livvy Dunne.

Her debut on the cover comes after her stellar season for TCU.

With the Horned Frogs, Van Lith became the first player in NCAA history, men’s or women’s, to have appeared in the Elite Eight round of the March Madness tournament five times.

It saw her round off an standout season as she helped TCU to its first appearance in the tournament since 2010.

Van Lith’s Sports Illustrated debut also sees her follow the footsteps of her former LSU teammate Angel Reese.

Van Lith joined Reese from Louisville in April 2023 after the side won the NCAA championships as she chased championship glory.

Van Lith averaged 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a freshman with Louisville.

In 2023, the team entered the season at No. 1 in the AP poll and women’s college basketball had a veritable Big Three.

Hailey Van Lith were teammates during their crushing campaign in 2024Credit: Getty
But Van Lith, and the Tigers, were badly humbled on the grandest stage of all.

LSU faced women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament — a rematch of the national championship game from the year before

Van Lith learned the hard way that there are levels to this sport.

Clark lit up the young point guard for 41 points, who was powerless to stop her.

The site of Van Lith haplessly trying to contain Clark and shrugging her shoulders as the now WNBA star backpedaled down the court after making a signature 3 was difficult to watch.

Van Lith, once deemed a shoo-in for the WNBA Draft, saw her draft stock tank in the wake of that embarrassing defeat.

Soon after, she announced her decision to forgo the pros and play her last year of college eligibility at TCU, where she was reborn.

Now, Van Lith is entering the WNBA draft and she may reunite with Reese at the Chicago Sky.

The Sky have the tenth pic in the first round and there’s every chance Chicago might use it on Van Lith.

ESPN however have projected her to go in the second round but with the Sky in need of a capable guard, a move for Van Lith would make the most sense.