Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

WNBA Legend Takes Big Shot at Chicago Sky Rookie Hailey Van Lith

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 4:22 PM ET

The Chicago Sky selected Hailey Van Lith with the 11th overall pick in this year's WNBA Draft.

Van Lith played college basketball at Louisville, LSU and TSU. She appeared in 172 games in college, averaging 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

The 23-year-old has played in nine games for the Sky this season. She's averaging 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 41.0% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc and 80.0% from the free-throw line.

Van Lith has over 1.3 million followers on Instagram. She was one of the models for this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit catalog, and one WNBA legend felt the Washington native has benefited from social media.

Angel McCoughtry recently questioned if Van Lith would be in the WNBA if she had 10,000 followers instead of 1.3 million.

Is Hailey Van Lith's talent or social following more valuable to the Sky?

(via Let Her Shoot) pic.twitter.com/7RwaRXvkI6
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 20, 2025

McCoughtry was drafted by the Atlanta Dream with the first overall pick in 2009. She played in 311 games with the Dream, Las Vegas Aces and Minnesota Lynx.

McCoughtry made five All-Star teams, six All-WNBA teams and seven All-Defensive teams during her career, averaging 18.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. She was the 2009 Rookie of the Year and named to the top 25 players of all time squad.

It appears McCoughtry has some doubts about whether or not Van Lith is worthy of being a WNBA player. Van Lith's best game as a pro came on June 15 against the Connecticut Sun.

She finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes while shooting 6-of-8 overall.

It will be intriguing to track Van Lith's WNBA career moving forward in the wake of McCoughtry's strong comments.

The Sky are only 3-8 on the season. They are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: