LSU's Hailey Van Lith signs with Tigers NIL Store, set to launch apparel
The expectations are already sky-high for LSU and Hailey Van Lith this upcoming season.
Led by head coach Kim Mulkey, the reigning national champs raided the transfer portal this offseason, headlined by their pickup of the former Louisville star. Next to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and her new LSU teammates Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson, Van Lith is one of the biggest names in her sport.
Van Lith took the Cardinals to the Final Four and Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons. A two-time All-ACC first-teamer, she’s now in Baton Rouge and has admitted in recent months that joining the LSU locker room and competing for a national title was a major draw.
Beyond what she brings to the Tigers on the court, Van Lith is an outright NIL star. She has a multi-year NIL agreement with adidas, which is still intact despite transferring to a Nike school. The 5-foot-7 point guard has more than 1.1 million followers, too.
Her fans will soon be able to start buying her LSU merchandise. Van Lith has signed an NIL deal with the Tigers NIL Store, part of Campus Ink’s NIL network. As part of the agreement, her licensed LSU apparel will pop up on the site in the coming days.
According to Campus Ink vice president Adam Cook, she will have 12 products on the site including an LSU jersey. That does not include possible limited releases, which will be coming once the season begins.
“I think the most exciting thing for us is just to like, having the services that we’re providing to athletes that have a caliber of Flau’jae and Angel, and now to have Hailey and her team abe just as excited about what we’re doing for athletes of her caliber,” Cook said. “Frankly, for us, that’s the most exciting thing. Then you’ve got somebody who has almost a million followers on Instagram, who has tons of deals, flooding into her inbox and her team trying to manage everything right, as best as they can. And they are excited to take part in and what we’re able to do for them on Campus Ink.”
Campus Ink’s website says the company has 35 school licenses. The company recently launched an NIL Store at Ohio State and is growing. Van Lith’s addition comes after the company released limited edition Johnson and Reese jerseys after April’s national title.
Represented by Octagon Sports, on top of her work with adidas, she has partnered with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Valentino, Overtime and Billionaire Girls Club. Van Lith will pocket between $6 to $15 on every sale of her merchandise on the Tigers NIL Store site.
For any college athlete, licensed apparel is a major opportunity to drive some attention and build out their brand. Plus, brand deals have become such popular activations in the NIL era, that creating unique, licensed apparel has been a win for athletes.
“We’ve said before, but this works best when your on-court product is good,” Cook said. “And that’s obviously the case at LSU. I think what makes it even more exciting is to continue to support the growth of women’s sports. We’ve seen that in the last couple of years, I think last year, especially with NIL kind of getting on its feet. Seeing how women’s athletics can have just as much success in the NIL space as men, if not more – I think it’s just going to put more resources into that ecosystem.”
Hailey Van Lith poised for big season on court, in NIL
LSU has already been tabbed as a preseason No. 1 by multiple outlets and is expected to defend its crown. The Tigers also added third-team All-American Aneesah Morrow through the portal; she averaged 25.7 points per game last year.
Meanwhile, Van Lith averaged 21.1 points during last season’s conference and NCAA tournaments. With a growing NIL brand and a $558,000 On3 NIL Valuation, there’s no question she is just seeing her stardom take off.
But now fans can purchase her LSU merchandise as the Tigers gear up for another national title run.