Hailey van lith injury update: Sky Rookie questionable for the start of the season against fever, Caitlin Clark

Hailey van Lith, the No. 11 election in the WNBA design of 2025, is questionable for the season start of Chicago Sky against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday afternoon due to an ankle injury, the team said on Friday.

Van Lith seems to have optimized her ankle at some point during training this week, but it is unclear when the injury happened. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be a serious problem. Even if she sits outside on Saturday, her “questionable” name suggests that she will be back sooner than later.

During a solid pre -season, Van Lith scored an average of six points and 4.3 templates in the role of the Backup Point Guard behind Courtney Vandersloot. And while the results play no role in these exhibition games, Van Lith's start 3-pointer was a promising sign for the rookie late in the sky against the Minnesota Lynx.

After a strong start to her college career at Louisville, van Lith moved to the LSU for her senior season. While the Tigers went to the elite, she tried to find her place in Baton Rouge, causing her designs hanging on a thread. Instead of making a professional last year, van Lith decided to use her additional year of justification, and this time switched to TCU again.

That turned out to be clever. Van Lith was excellent in Mark Campbell's Spread Pick-and-Roll-System and helped the horns to reach the elite for the first time in the program history. Remarkably, as a playmaker, she showed real growth, which made her a much more practical prospectus given her small stature (5-foot 9) and inconsistent jump shot.

Sure enough, Van Lith landed as a choice in the first round and reunited himself with Angel Reese, with which she played at the LSU.

“I had some great conversations [with the Sky’s front office]. I wanted to come to heaven deep in my heart. ” Van Lith said during the training camp. “I felt a lot of orientation and had the feeling that they saw who I was as a player. And I felt appreciated, so I hoped that I was available when Chicago's picks came.

“You never want to put too much expectation or hope because you never know what will happen on the day of the draft day, but I really hoped that deep in my heart.”

Van Lith's wish came true, and now she will try to return to the playoffs for the first time in 2023.