Hailey Van Lith Sports Illustrated swimsuit Screengrab via Sports Illustrated
By Matt Yoder on

It was a great March for TCU basketball star Hailey Van Lith. She led the Horned Frogs to the Elite 8 and was named the Big 12 player of the year. Now she is starring off the court as the newest digital cover star for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Sports Illustrated has seen more and more female athletes grace the covers of the swimsuit issue in the last several years including Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and many others. Hailey Van Lith’s appearance comes after a comeback season at TCU that saw her win admiration from fans after an up-and-down experience at LSU after transferring from Louisville.

This year Van Lith became the first college basketball player, male or female, to reach five Elite 8s while doing so at three different schools in a record unlikely to be matched anytime soon. She’s also made waves in the NIL world where she is ranked third in women’s college basketball NIL valuations only behind Paige Bueckers and Flau’jae Johnson. Appearing as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is only going to see her starpower continue to rise.

While it’s nearly impossible to match the hype that Caitlin Clark provided last season when entering the league, Hailey Van Lith will certainly be a popular addition to the WNBA next season. She’s currently projected to be a first round draft pick in multiple 2025 mock drafts.

When you combine her star power with UConn national championship winner Paige Bueckers, it shows that the growth in women’s basketball on the college or professional level isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

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