Stanford Transfer Lauren Betts Commits to UCLA Women's Basketball
The Bruins already had the top recruiting class in the country for 2022, and now they're adding some more star power to the group one year later.
Former Stanford center Lauren Betts has committed to UCLA women's basketball, she revealed Tuesday on Instagram. Betts was ESPN's No. 1 recruit in last year's cycle, so it stood out as a major shock when she entered the transfer portal on April 7 with three years of eligibility remaining.
With the former Cardinal on her way to Westwood, the Bruins now boast the No. 1, No. 2, No. 19, No. 22 and No. 49 recruits from the high school class of 2022 – Betts, guard Kiki Rice, wing Gabriela Jaquez, guard Londynn Jones and forward Christeen Iwuala. Betts, Rice and Jaquez were all five-star prospects and McDonald's All-Americans.
UCLA, UConn, Oregon, Notre Dame and South Carolina were all contenders for Betts when she was coming out of Grandview High School (CO) – the same school former UCLA forward and WNBA Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere attended – before ultimately losing out to Stanford in January 2021.
Betts went on to average 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in just 9.6 minutes per game with the Cardinal last year, shooting 60.2% from the field across 33 appearances as a true freshman.
The 6-foot-7 Betts ranked fifth in both points and rebounds for Stanford, despite getting the tenth-most minutes on the roster. Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen were the forwards in coach Tara VanDerveer's starting lineup, though, and they were both set to return to The Farm next season.
Coach Cori Close, on the other hand, did not have nearly as much size to work with this past year.
UCLA only had two players 6 feet or taller play more than 12.5 minutes per game last season – Emily Bessoir and Lina Sontag. Bessoir put up a solid 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, but she was not a traditional post player, averaging 4.6 attempts from beyond the arc a night.
Sontag, meanwhile, was a defensive specialist off the bench. Outside of her 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, though, she was only able to average 4.9 points per game.
Betts will now come in and give the Bruins' post rotation some serious juice, as will Angela Dugalic – a former Oregon transfer who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Between Betts, Bessoir and Dugalic, Close now has three starting-caliber forwards who are 6-foot-4 or taller with experience at the college level, in addition to Sontag, Iwuala, incoming four-star freshman Amanda Muse, former four-star recruit Brynn Masikewich and Australian veteran Izzy Anstey.
UCLA was in desperate need of bigs when it lost to No. 1 seed South Carolina in the Sweet 16 back in March, and now it has forwards to spare.
The Bruins will also have plenty of familiar faces on the wing and in the backcourt, with both Charisma Osborne and Camryn Brown returning to play out their super senior years alongside Rice, Jones and Jaquez. The only departing player from last year's roster is Gina Conti, a former Wake Forest transfer who just wrapped up her sixth year of college hoops.
Close was unable to take full advantage of the portal last year, not adding a single transfer in 2022. The staff was all in back in 2021, though, bringing in Conti, Dugalic, Indiana guard Jaelynn Penn and Cincinnati forward Imari'I Thomas.
While UCLA doesn't have the room to add four scholarship players via the portal in 2023, Betts' impact over the next few seasons may outdo all of the veteran transfers who have made their way to Westwood in recent years.
The Bruins – although they were already seen as a true contender for the Pac-12 crown next year – may be on the verge of asserting themselves as the undisputed favorites out West.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREN BETTS/INSTAGRAM