College hoops fans have hilarious reactions to Hailey Van Lith's latest snaps wearing new team's jersey: "I'm a TCU fan now"

TCU Horned Frogs star Hailey Van Lith has been generating plenty of attention this offseason after opting to join the program from the transfer portal after leaving the LSU Tigers after one year. Van Lith was expected to declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft but chose to use her one year of eligibility left at TCU.

Most recently, she was pictured in the new white-and-blue TCU uniform on Instagram, and fans reacted enthusiastically to the pictures.

Hailey Van Lith captioned the Instagram post:

"inreallife."

Van Lith's IG comments

Van Lith's IG comments

Van Lith's IG comments

Van Lith's IG comments

Why Hailey Van Lith entered the transfer portal and returned for an extra year

During LSU's year-end banquet, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey revealed why Van Lith opted to enter the transfer portal from the Tigers instead of declaring for the WNBA Draft as was expected.

“Her aspirations were to get drafted this year,” Mulkey said, “and she realized, ‘I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position.’ And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well.”

Hailey Van Lith transferred to LSU to learn how to play a different position other than the off-ball guard role that she was so effective in during her time as a Louisville Cardinals star.

She played as the point guard for LSU and struggled massively with her numbers dipping. According to coach Mulkey, Hailey Van Lith chose LSU because the coach had played point guard and wanted to boost her draft stock by mastering the new position.

“She wanted to improve her strengths by coming to LSU with a goal of expanding her game by learning a position that I played my entire life,” Mulkey said, “because she knows at the next level that's her only chance – to be able to tell them somewhat, ‘I can handle the ball if you need me to.’”

Van Lith averaged 11.6 points on 37.8% shooting from the floor and 33.9% shooting from beyond the arc. She also racked up 2.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds during her sole year in Baton Rouge.

During her last year in Louisville, she averaged 19.7 points on 41.1% shooting from the field and 29.3% shooting from beyond the arc, with 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Van Lith played her last LSU game against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA tournament. She struggled with her shooting and trying to contain Clark.

That her transfer decision came on the heels of that game increased speculation that she had opted to return for an extra year of eligibility because her draft stock had taken a hit. TCU fans will hope that the Van Lith of old asserts herself as a Horned Frogs star.