Undeclared Van Lith and Clark earning experience with USA Basketball
Big parts of undetermined future college programs
BANGKOK, Thailand – Hailey Van Lith and Caitlin Clark are unique to the U.S. women’s Under-19 team in that they are the only two members currently not attached to an NCAA school. The pair of incoming high school seniors also played big roles in Team USA’s 81-46 dominating win over Canada in the quarterfinals of the Under-19 World Cup on Friday.
Van Lith, a 5’9 point guard from Cashmere High School in Wenatchee, Wash., and Clark, a 6′ guard from Iowa, each scored nine points in the win. Clark’s 26 minutes were a game-high and the most for her during the five-game tournament so far.
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“Playing with college players who have been there before and just hearing them talk about what college is like helps a lot,” Clark told High Post Hoops. “Getting coached by college coaches helps a lot. It’s definitely fun, and it takes away the stress of AAU basketball at times. It’s fun getting to come here and to play with so many good players.”
The U.S. shot 50 percent from the floor and forced 22 turnovers in the win over Canada. Rhyne Howard, the SEC Freshman of the Year from the University of Kentucky, led the team with 14 points, while Queen Egbo, three months removed from a national title at Baylor, amassed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“You can learn a lot just be watching the other countries play,” U.S. coach Jeff Walz told High Post Hoops. “Our two scrimmages we had with Japan were great for our team to see the tempo and the speed they play with, and the kids take that to heart, like ‘I could play harder.’ Also, the physicality of the game here, the officials don’t call as much as they do back home, and they learn to play through the contact. That’s really important.”
Two years ago, Clark won the Under-16 FIBA Americas title in Argentina. This season, she scored 32.6 points with seven rebounds per game for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, during her junior year.
“Our goal is to win a state championship,” Clark said. “We lost in the semifinals last year. We have pretty much our whole team coming back, so we should be pretty good. I’m just excited for senior year.”
Van Lith averaged more than 34 points per game, with eight rebounds, five steals, and five assists for Cashmere as a junior last season. This is her fourth major competition for USA Basketball, beginning with a gold medal in the 2018 Under-17 World Cup in Belarus.
“It’s obviously a great experience for me to go outside the U.S. and play other countries and experience other teams and cultures,” Van Lith told High Post Hoops. “I don’t really know if it helps me with choosing my college, but it’s always a blessing to play for Team USA. (Thailand’s) really great and totally different from where I am from. The temperature and the people are awesome. You just have a great experience with Thailand.”
In early June, Van Lith was named the MVP of the FIBA Under-18 3×3 World Cup in Mongolia. She also led a 3×3 team to a championship at last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
“It’s definitely up and coming,” she said of three-by-three basketball, “and it’s just fun to go out there and play. It’s a whole different game than five-on-five. Five-on-five is still my favorite, but three-on-three, it’s still fun to go out and compete. You definitely have to be a well-rounded player to play three-on-three because if you have any weaknesses, you’ll get exposed. It just helps me with my all-around game, offense, defense, everything.”
Coach Walz added that when he coaches at Louisville, the team ends all of its individual workouts with a three-on-three session and plays FIBA rules.
“I think it’s great,” Walz said of three-on-three. “I think the speed of the game is very important for conditioning, even for five-on-five. I think it exploits your weaknesses. In three-on-three, you need to be a great defender because it’s half court. In five-on-five, you might be able to hide somebody who can’t shoot the ball. In three-on-three, you can’t hide them. It’s a great game, and it will be competitive with five-on-five as it becomes more popular.”
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