Hailey Van Lith thought the media reaction to Caitlin Clark’s “You can’t see me” gesture was laugh-out-loud funny.
Van Lith joined Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks for an interview that aired on Monday, and was asked about being on the receiving end of the gesture from Clark in the Elite Eight.
“Right after the game, I texted her, and I was like, ‘The media is dumb. I’m sorry.’ They just make stuff up and then they just put it all over the internet and everyone thinks it’s true,” the former Louisville star said.
“We were laughing about it because she did it to her strength coach. She didn’t do it to anyone on our team, especially me. I didn’t even see it in the game. I was probably dribbling the ball up the court after she just hit a three in our face.”
Van Lith has since transferred from Louisville to LSU, where she will team up with Angel Reese and the defending national champion Tigers.
“It’s just funny how camera angles and perceptions are skewed,” Van Lith continued in the Bleacher Report interview.
“It was hilarious. We laughed about it after. My perception — I don’t even have one, because I didn’t even see it until I was on Instagram later.”
Reese taunting Clark as LSU was defeating Iowa in the women’s basketball national championship game got much of the attention, but it had actually been in response to Clark’s similar taunting of other opponents, including Van Lith’s Louisville squad earlier in the NCAA Tournament.
Clark also claimed not to have seen — nor have been bothered by — Reese’s taunting.
“We’re all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way,” Clark said in an interview with ESPN.
“Angel’s a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game, the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball is absolutely incredible. I’m a big fan of her. Even the whole LSU team, the way they played. I don’t think there should be any criticism for what she did.
“I honestly didn’t see it when the game was going on and like I said I haven’t been on social media at all.”
