Get Ready With Hailey Van Lith for the 2025 WNBA Draft

Three weeks ago, Hailey Van Lith was still in Fort Worth, Texas, working on a graduate degree and playing basketball for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. The 23-year-old from Wenatchee, WA, was busy leading her team to the Elite Eight, round four of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Though TCU ended up falling to the University of Texas in that game, everything wasn’t all bad, at least not for Van Lith. What came with that final collegiate match-up was the reality that now, she could transition into the next phase of her basketball career. At that point, she was three weeks away from going pro, joining the WNBA with the rest of her draft class in New York City.

Before she heard her name called by the W’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, at the 2025 WNBA Draft, marking the beginning of her rookie season with the Chicago Sky, the team that drafted the 5’9” point guard with the 11th pick, Van Lith had to prepare for the evening’s most important activity (at least for fashion people like us): the orange carpet. Made to match the W’s color scheme, the orange carpet is an iconic part of modern WNBA drafts, and an opportunity for draftees to give fans a sneak peek at their style ahead of the season, when tunnel fits become an important part of their pre-game routines.

This year, the orange carpet was sponsored by Coach, the official handbag sponsor of the WNBA. The brand announced the partnership on the morning of the draft, dressing a number of its biggest stars to celebrate the occasion. One such star was Van Lith. Below, follow along with Van Lith as she gets ready with Coach for the biggest day of her career thus far.

This is the biggest day of your basketball career so far. How are you feeling going into the draft?