LSU G Hailey Van Lith: Kim Mulkey's Influence

Transcript

00:00 that the coaches coach with, the energy Coach Moki brings to the court, the

00:05 energy the assistants bring to the court, the energy the girls, the attitude the

00:08 girls play with. I think you know the culture of the team really drew me in

00:12 but then obviously getting a chance to play for one of the best point guards

00:17 ever and Coach Moki and learn from her is something that's really valuable to

00:21 me and then you know the fans here like no other. I'm the type of player

00:27 that loves to play in front of a big crowd and entertain as you would say.

00:33 Were you surprised at the reaction when you did hit the portal?

00:39 Honestly I don't engage on social media at this point in my career you know

00:47 there's every level of opinion there's people that were really for it and

00:51 really against it and so you know you can't swing either way too much so I

00:56 just focused on the people around me the coaches I had around me my parents my

01:00 family my friends and they were all supportive of it so that's all that I

01:04 cared about. Kim recruited you at Baylor. What was the difference

01:08 then that made you go to Louisville and what do you remember about that

01:12 recruiting process? I think out of high school the system at Baylor was a little

01:18 bit different you know it was set up in a way that I would be playing I would

01:24 have been playing with two super dominant bigs and Melissa Smith I think

01:28 they had Melissa like Queen Ikeville like very very they were very big and me

01:33 coming in though in the past years her offense you know guards were very it was

01:38 a pretty one-dimensional offense you know we're getting into the post and I

01:41 was working for them that was great so that's I knew that's probably the style

01:45 of play I would have been coming into and I just don't fit well into that my

01:49 style of play is different and so I think at that time with the system Baylor

01:54 had I wouldn't have been a good fit it wasn't anything like it was so hard for

01:59 me to tell coach Mulkey no and she knew it she knew it wasn't anything with her

02:04 like our connection you know stayed fresh we didn't talk while I was at

02:09 Louisville but the minute I called her when I was in the portal it was like we

02:12 talked every day since Baylor so yeah I mean that was why out of high school but

02:19 everything happens for what's the difference now I think this system here

02:24 is a little bit more open even the bigs that I am playing with they're a little

02:29 bit more versatile they can they can play the perimeter come off the block so

02:33 the system that the team has in the flow and the style of play fits me a little

02:38 bit better and I'm also in a position where I'm going to be able to play

02:43 multiple positions so I have the capability to step out and play the one

02:47 now where if I would have went to Baylor out of high school I don't know if I

02:52 would have been ready to step up and play the one