Hailey Van Lith, former Louisville basketball star and top transfer portal player, picks LSU

About three weeks after entering the NCAA transfer portal, former Louisville junior guard Hailey Van Lith is heading to LSU.

The Washington native, and top transfer portal target this offseason according to ESPN, posted on her Instagram account Thursday that she will join the defending national champions next season.

"We thank Hailey for her contributions to this program, this school and this community," said U of L head coach Jeff Walz said in a statement earlier this month. "She has done everything we have asked of her over the past three years, and we wish her the very best in her final collegiate season and beyond."

Van Lith, who appears to have changed her number from 10 to 11 with the switch, visited the Baton Rouge-based campus on April 19 and already had a relationship with Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey. Prior to her commitment to Louisville, Baylor, where Mulkey was coaching at the time, was one of Van Lith's top two schools.

Louisville WBB transfer tracker: Veteran guard Sydney Taylor commits to Cardinals; Van Lith picks LSU

The full-circle moment comes on the heels of Mulkey, a Louisiana native and former Louisiana Tech guard, bringing a national championship to the program in her second year at the helm after winning three titles in 21 years at Baylor.

Van Lith is a big get for the Tigers. Flau'jae Johnson, the 2022-23 SEC Freshman of the Year, responded to Van Lith's Instagram post by writing “Let’s go get another 1" in the comments. And Mulkey welcomed her new guard on Twitter, writing "Let's GEAUX!!"

The Tigers lost point guard Alexis Morris to the WNBA where she was the No. 22 pick in the draft April 10. But they return Johnson and Angel Reese, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player who set a new NCAA single-season record for most double-doubles with 34 and broke Sylvia Fowles' record for most consecutive double-doubles of 19 by recording 23.

Van Lith led Louisville to its fifth straight trip to the Elite Eight in March after an up-and-down season to complete her time as a Cardinal. U of L (26-12) lost more games in 2022-23 than it had in a single season in more than a decade- under Walz. The squad hit its stride at the right time, though, making the ACC Tournament championship game for the third time in five seasons as Van Lith earned all-tournament honors after averaging 17.7 points in three games.

Since Van Lith left U of L, the Cardinals have had added four guards from the transfer portal — Jayda Curry (California), Kiki Jefferson (James Madison), Nina Rickards (Florida) and Sydney Taylor (UMass). A fifth, Eylia Love, arrived from Georgia Tech during the season. Curry (15.5 points, 3.5 assists per game) and Jefferson (18.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists) are ranked among the top 10 transfer portal players by ESPN.

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Transfer portal: Hailey Van Lith, former Louisville star, picks LSU