A Mentor To Kobe Bryant, How Hailey Van Lith’s Father Built An NCAA Star

While a coach pushes the athletes to perform their best at various stages in their careers, it is also one of the most crucial relationships. The relationship is easy to be soiled since the mentor can also come across as being very harsh to his/her students. And the bond becomes more difficult to foster if the parent is a coach. In such situations, the child mostly starts seeing their parent in a different light, one where they are rude and aggressive towards them. Hence, whenever any parent can successfully train their child, it deserves the spotlight and applause.

The story also needs to be told so that new parents who have just started playing two different roles in their child’s life can take inspiration from a successful father such that they form a fulfilling connection with their offspring. One such story that has warmed the hearts of millions of basketball fans is the association between the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers’ basketball star Hailey van Lith and her father Corey Van Lith.

The Bond to Remember

Hailey was born to Corey Van Lith and his wife Jessica Van Lith in Wenatchee, Washington on September 9, 2001. Corey is not just a father to Hailey but has also guided her during her formative years as a coach.

He continues to bear a lot of influence on Hailey and has been helping her develop her game since her childhood. Corey played basketball and baseball during his time at the University of Puget Sound and currently owns a custom home-building business along with his wife.

Corey identified the potential in her daughter and started coaching her when she was just in elementary school. Even at that time, Hailey began displaying her competitive nature and an affinity towards athleticism. Corey continues to train with her daughter even today and finds time between her hectic schedule.

It all started when Hailey was only in fifth grade but showed sparks of being a better basketball player than girls who were three years her elder. Corey saw a promising talent in her daughter because whatever they worked on during her training would be implemented by Hailey on her own during her basketball matches.

Also, the LSU Tigers’ guard was never interested in playing indoor games. She would invest most of her time in improving her balling skills. Thus, the father-daughter duo started following a rigorous schedule of training.

Hailey, however, admitted as per the Wenatchee World that there were times when she did it because her dad told her to. And her mentality towards the balling practices changed once she reached the seventh grade.

The child prodigy finally understood what her dad had been trying to get her to do and how, if successful, it would impact her personality and future. Hailey then started liking her one-on-one drills with her father.

Corey would make sure that he got his personal time with his daughter every day despite her practicing with her squad back then. And there were also times when Hailey pushed her father to encourage her to do the drills. Corey would often be tired after work, but that did not deter Hailey from getting him to practice it.

Corey also divulged his perspective on the mentor role he has assumed with Hailey over the years.

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“Basketball is what I’m passionate about and it just so happens my daughter is just as passionate and incredibly gifted. We do have a great outside relationship, but (basketball) does dominate at times during the year, especially this time of year,” Corey stated.

Did the hard work pay off?

Corey’s efforts paid off when Van Lith became a sensation in the NCAA college basketball circuit. Van Lith was also in the news for stepping up her game during her teammate Angel Reese’s absence.

Corey, however, had another chip on his shoulder when the NBA legend Kobe Bryant called Van Lith after her game with Team USA in Thailand around 2019. Kobe as per Hailey told her that he “loved my game and really wanted to get me to L.A. to work with him and talk about basketball.”

As per Corey, the sole reason was not only Hailey, but Bryant had been developing a mentor/student relationship with his daughter Gianna. The former NBA star wanted to inquire a thing or two from Corey, who had been successful in maintaining a sound father-daughter relationship off the court and a healthy mentor-mentee bond with Hailey during training. 

Bryant also wanted to motivate her daughter to work harder and cite Hailey as an example such that Gianna could relate to her.“‘If you do this, you can attain the goals you want to attain’,” was what Kobe wanted to tell her daughter Corey stated as per LA Times.

Bryant also took a leaf out of Corey’s diary regarding some workouts that he did with his daughter Hailey. Corey also revealed the secret behind his coaching practices when he said that he tries to come up with new methods that instantly gain the attention of Hailey likes those workouts.

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Though Bryant is no more, Corey’s input would sure have helped him develop a better relationship with his daughter. As far as Hailey, she got one of the best gifts when she got a call from Kobe. Though not much attention has been given to Corey Van Lith, he sure deserves the world for raising a fighter.