SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Hailey Van Lith is focused on making the USA Basketball 3x3 Olympic team this summer and not worried about where she'll end up at college next year.
Van Lith is currently taking part in a training camp in Springfield, Massachusetts, and will play in a 3x3 tournament early next week at The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 22-year-old guard, who played at Louisville and LSU, has experienced success in 3x3 for the U.S. She won a gold medal on the U18 team in 2019 and helped win gold at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup last year. The Paris Games is the second Olympics offering 3x3, after the event debuted in Tokyo in the 2021 Games.
“What I remember most is that every game is so unique,” she said of 3x3 play. “The strategy from game to game is so different. You can't specialize in one thing and make it as a player in 3 on 3. You have to be able to guard every position for at least a couple of seconds.”
Van Lith has a chance to make the Paris Games because two of the four members of the U.S. team must be in America’s top 10 for total points accumulated in FIBA rankings. Van Lith currently qualifies at fifth.
Playing in the training camp with so many WNBA players — Dearica Hamby, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard — has helped Van Lith improve her game.
“Playing against them and seeing how I'm able to score and not score shows me what I need to get better at,” Van Lith said. “It's a little taste of the league early.”
As far as where she will play college basketball next year, she says she still hasn't signed anywhere yet. Van Lith decided to play in college one more season instead of entering the WNBA draft.
“I did take a visit to TCU and am very interested in them, but I took visits to other schools and was very interested in them, too,” she told The Associated Press. “I haven't made an official commitment, but I'm very close. The ink has not touched the paper for any school.”
Van Lith said she's really stayed off social media for the most part since LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight this month. She didn't even know that Haley Cavinder had decided to not play at TCU and go back to Miami until Saturday afternoon.
She said Cavinder's choice wouldn't play a role in her decision.
“It's a non-factor for me,” Van Lith said. “If she had stayed and I did go to TCU, I'd have loved to play with her.”
Van Lith averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 assists in her only season at LSU, joining the NCAA defending champions for the 2023-24 season. She has the option for another season because of the extra year granted by the NCAA to athletes whose freshmen season was affected by the pandemic.
She starred at Louisville her first three years, leading the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2022. Louisville lost in the Elite Eight last year before she decided to transfer to LSU. She was one of the biggest names in the portal last season and is again now.
AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
FILE - LSU guard Hailey Van Lith passes the ball during the first half of a Elite Eight college basketball game against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament, April 1, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. Van Lith is focused on trying to make the USA Basketball 3x3 Olympic team this summer and not worried about where she’ll end up at college next year. Van Lith is taking part in a training camp in Springfield, Mass. this weekend and will play in a tournament early next week at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, file)
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Taylor Pendrith shot a 7-under 64 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead over Matt NeSmith into the weekend in the 3M Open.
Playing in windier afternoon conditions, Pendrith made a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th and tapped in for another birdie on the par-5 18th. He had a 12-under 130 total at the TPC Twin Cities, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey.
The 33-year-old Canadian won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May in Texas for his first PGA Tour title. He tied for fifth last week in the Barracuda Championship in California.
“Today was pretty tricky with the wind, it was blowing pretty hard at times, so my speed was great all day and stayed really patient," Pendrith said. “I didn’t really have many good looks through the first hour I would say of golf and was able to stay patient and make a couple, made a couple longer ones, which was nice.”
NeSmith had a 64 in the morning before wind gusts topping 20 mph hit the course in the afternoon and early evening.
Seeking his first PGA Tour victory, NeSmith lost in a playoff two weeks ago at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky, his lone top-10 finish in 20 prior starts this season. He has missed 11 cuts.
“Patience is key out here whether it be to win golf tournaments, to make cuts, to try and keep your card to try and get in the top 30,” NeSmith said. “I think it pertains to each and every person out here. You never know when you’re going to get hot, you never know when good golf’s coming. Just kind of try and be patient, try and keep calmer heads and you never know what will happen.”
First-round leader Jacob Bridgeman had a 70 to drop three strokes back at 9 under with Andrew Putnam (66). Doug Ghim (64), Lanto Griffin (66), Alex Smalley (65) and Jhonattan Vegas (66) were 8 under.
“I felt like anything under par today was pretty good, especially in the afternoon,” said Bridgeman, one of the last players to tee off Friday. “The wind was blowing really hard in the beginning of the round, caught a little bit of a lull at the end, which was nice. But greens were kind of bumpy from all the traffic. … I stayed patient all day, didn’t really have a whole lot of great chances.”
The event is the second-to-last tournament before the FedEx Cup playoffs begin, with some players near the 70-player cutoff failing to advance to the weekend. Nick Dunlap (64th in the standings), Luke List (71st) and defending champion Lee Hodges (73rd) missed the cut.
Jacob Bridgeman walks on the 10th tee during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Stewart Cink watches his tee shot on the 10th hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Kurt Kitayama watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Lanto Griffin watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Andrew Putnam watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Matt NeSmith walks off the 18th green after his putt during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Matt NeSmith watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Taylor Pendrith lines up his putt on the 18th green during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Taylor Pendrith putts on the 18th green during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
