Louisville women’s basketball punches Final Four ticket, then gives back to Wichita
Even with music blaring in Intrust Bank Arena, the yells cut through the noise to make their way to the court.
The celebration was underway for the Louisville women’s basketball team experiencing the ecstasy of securing the program’s fourth trip to the Final Four with an NCAA tournament regional final win, 62-50, over Michigan in Wichita on Monday night.
Louisville sophomore superstar Hailey Van Lith was cradling the regional championship trophy, surrounded by confetti, when she heard her name off in the distance. She glanced over and saw a pack of 15-year-old girls shrieking her name from the front row of the stands.
No one would have thought twice if Van Lith ignored the yells to continue her celebration.
But in the moments after scoring 22 points to lead her team to the Final Four, being named Most Outstanding Player in the Wichita region and delivering a post-game interview to the ESPN cameras, Van Lith chose to leave the celebration to hop over the barrier, even with a limp, to take pictures and chat with a group of local teenagers she didn’t know.
“I think I owe it to them. I was in their spot not long ago and if I was them, I would hope that the player would come over to me and take a picture,” Van Lith told The Eagle. “In today’s world, it’s easy to have a selfish mentality and individual mentality with social media and all of that. But it’s so much bigger than that. I really feel like God built me to inspire young girls through basketball and this is my meaning on this Earth and I’m going to hopefully give it up to him in the end and maybe inspire those girls to do something big.”
Two of those girls were Destiny Smith and Naomi White, a pair of sophomores who are up-and-coming players on the Derby girls basketball team that recently played in the Class 6A state championship.
They both have Division I dreams of playing college basketball and they aspire to be like the Louisville players they watched on Friday and Monday. Even before the Cardinals were assigned to the Wichita regional, the girls said Louisville was their favorite college basketball team to watch.
“I’ve been watching Hailey play since she was in high school,” White said. “I love watching her play. She’s so good. I love her so much.”
“I just love watching basketball and seeing how hard these girls work and everything they do,” Smith added. “It’s so much different watching them in person than watching them on TV.”
The duo had watched so many highlight films of Van Lith, obsessed over her moves and her tenacity for attacking the basket. And now here was their hero, a potential WNBA lottery pick taking time out of her championship celebration to come over and snap as many pictures as they wanted and chat with them about basketball.
Smith’s mother, Kristin Brewer, could already tell the impact the encounter had on the teenage girls.
“It makes them want it even more for the dreams they’re chasing,” Brewer said. “That was a dream come true for them.”
Even in their moment of bliss, the Louisville players made it a priority to take the time to help grow the game by inspiring the younger generation.
Louisville senior Emily Engstler, another future WNBA player who finished with five points, 16 rebounds, four assists and six steals against Michigan, also stopped by the group of girls to take pictures and chat.
“You hope it can inspire them, but it’s just as important to show them actual love and stop to take the time to say hello and give them a high-five,” Engstler said. “That makes them feel like you’re a real human being. We’re not just basketball players. And hopefully they’ll do the same thing when they get older.”
Louisville guard Chelsie Hall (15 points, four steals) didn’t think twice about coming over once she heard the girls yelling her name.
“You never know what someone is going through and how much you can impact them,” Hall said. “It wasn’t a big deal to go over there and talk with them about basketball and show them a little bit of love. We always want to try to grow the game and that’s something I always want to try to do.”
Hundreds, if not thousands of girls from the Wichita area were in attendance on Saturday and Monday to watch some of the best women’s college basketball players in the country. While not all of them had the chance to meet those players in person, there’s a good chance many of them have a new favorite team or a new favorite player from the experience.
Louisville’s story is still being written with a chance to add another chapter later this week in Minneapolis.
But there’s no doubt the Cardinals have left a lasting impact in Wichita.
“I think it’s always good to take time out of your celebration to take a picture with someone who is looking up to you,” Engstler said. “I think it means the world to them. At least it did when I was a kid.”
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