UCLA Women's Basketball: Standout Details How Bruins Salvaged Her Career
Sophomore UCLA Bruins starting center Lauren Betts, a 6'7" transfer out of Stanford, has quickly emerged as one of the best bigs in the nation with her new team.
At 7-0, that new team has a real shot to advance far further than last year's model (returning many of the same stars, Betts aside) did, writes Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times. UCLA fell in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament last spring.
Though Betts was the top prospect as a freshman with the Cardinal, she had an underwhelming NCAA debut, averaging a scant 5.9 points and 3.5 boards in just 9.7 minutes a night during the 2022-23 season.
“A lot of the things I would say that people assume that I knew, that’s not what I was told,” Betts said of her Stanford days. “It’s tricky to really go into specifics. I wouldn’t say anything specific happened, but I would say it was a long period of just not what I wanted as a freshman. … I didn’t feel like I could see myself playing there for four years.”
“I just kind of have to shut out all the negative... and just remind myself of who I am,” Betts said of how she approaches her play this season, per Nguyen.
This season, she's averaging 16.1 points and 8.9 boards, her 81.4% field goal conversion rate is the best in the nation. UCLA has risen to the No. 2-ranked club in the latest Associated Press poll, which as Nguyen notes is its highest-ever standing.
“This program and honestly Coach Cori [Close] have been doing a really good job of filling me with a lot of positivity and all the things I’m capable of doing,” Betts said. “All the negativity that I saw about myself before I got here, it kind of just brought me back to normal.”
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that I’m valued and that I matter and that no matter what happens, I still am important,” Betts said. “I think that has just brought out a sense of joy in everything that I do.”
Betts is clearly more comfortable in her own capabilities, and that's been enabled in part at least by the guidance of Close and her staff, plus the generous environment of the Westwood program.
“The right people know who I am,” Betts said. “I don’t care about what other people think right now. ... If you forgot about me, that’s too bad. Because I’m here.”
That's the exact right ethos to have when you're one of the most talent frontcourt forces in the college game.
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