ARLINGTON, Texas — Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith used to think about ending her own life. It’s no simple thing, opening up about feelings so personal and fathomless. But Van Lith, the Sky’s first-round point guard, did during this year’s NCAA Tournament, in which she led TCU to the Elite Eight. “When I was younger in college, I was suicidal, I was heavily medicated and I felt trapped,” she said in March. “And you would never know it because I was having a ton of success on the court. But internally, and in life in general, I was ready to be done. … “I didn’t even want to live.” It gets no heavier than that. These days, Van Lith is exhausted. Is it OK for her to admit that? She went from a season at LSU to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won bronze in women’s three-on-three, from there to TCU and from her final college season almost straight into Sky training camp. She has dealt early in her maiden WNBA voyage with an ankle injury she’s certain resulted from bodily fatigue. The ankle has slowed her start as a pro. It isn’t dimming her brightness. “My body will definitely need rest at the end of the year, but until that time comes, I’m 100%. I’ll run through a wall,” she told the Sun-Times. “I think this team and myself can do something special, so I’m definitely not going to let that opportunity go by.” Van Lith has gone from McDonald’s All-American in high school to star at Louisville, which she led to the 2022 Final Four, to LSU — where she played with Angel Reese — and then TCU, but now she’s just a backup, spelling veteran Courtney Vandersloot in limited minutes. There are no guarantees about how much she’ll play for this Sky team, how needed she’ll be or if individual success will be in the equation. She isn’t loving that reality, but she’s handling it. “Whatever my role is at the moment, I don’t feel bound to it,” she said. “Whatever my role may be every game, it doesn’t change how I feel about what type of player I am. I know my team values me and that things change at the drop of a hat, and I’m going to be ready for whatever they need me to be. But I don’t care either way. I think when you get caught up in caring about things like that is when you become an emotional roller coaster.” When she got to TCU, Van Lith felt lost. As she put it in March, she “wasn’t necessarily in a place where I knew who I was anymore.” She credited her coach there, Mark Campbell, with “transforming” her life. Has being separated from that support left her vulnerable? She pondered that awhile before answering. “I feel very stable,” she said. “I know myself really well now. I’m comfortable with who I am, and I think when you have that, your mental health can even out a lot more. I’m comfortable with who I am. I accept who I am.” That goes for whatever hard knocks the WNBA might throw at a rookie, too. “I think having that approach and being able to see it from that perspective has really helped me in this moment in my life to have a really good quality of life despite however my basketball career is going,” she said. “I feel good. I’m really happy. I have joy every day in the gym. I’m excited to be around this organization. So I’m doing good, and I’m proud of where I’ve come.” Sky coach Tyler Marsh gives a positive review of Van Lith the playmaker, likes the way she values the ball and initiates the offense. And Marsh does need her, because Vandersloot, 36, has been carrying an oversized load at 36. There are limits to this opportunity for Van Lith, but she can make a meaningful impact if she’s able. “We’re been pleased with what we’ve seen so far,” Marsh said. And once Van Lith finally makes it through to a sweet, hard-earned offseason, she can even start to get to know Chicago. “There’s a ton I have on my to-do list,” she said. “Obviously all the food, all the places you can eat, I think it’s going to be never-ending. I’m excited to go to a couple of farmer’s markets and to enjoy the water right there. I’m looking forward to seeing the beautiful skyline and being around the energy.” Nice, easy fun. A 23-year-old should have all of it she can. “I’m a simple girl,” she said. “It’s the simple things in life that I enjoy.” Simple sounds just about perfect.