One evening this past October, Lauren Betts left her black purse at a team dinner. She had put it on her chair, started talking to other attendees and got distracted by an ice cream cart. After she finished her vanilla-strawberry mix with an Oreo topping, she headed out. She forgot to grab her bag.
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On the way home, Betts realized the implications of the missing item. She had her personal necessities. She thought more about the enforcement of a UCLA team rule: If a player or staffer loses a belonging, and it is eventually found and returned to a coach, the person who lost the item has to sing in front of the team to get it back. Coach Cori Close ended up with Betts’ bag. “I can’t wait to hear you sing tomorrow,” she texted one of the newest members of her program.
At the end of the Bruins’ film study the following day, Close enforced the policy and called Betts to the front of the film room. She faced the group. Performances normally last around 30 seconds. Betts, however, belted out her go-to karaoke song, “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj, for more than two minutes. A blue water bottle parodied as a microphone. She danced and sang and rapped, all while teammates supplied backup vocals from their seats. “For Lauren, it was a whole concert,” Close says. “I didn’t know if we were going to lose her to tour after that.”
Three weeks into the season, Betts is embarking on a different tour of sorts — one unlike the journey she started a year ago. She’s still competing in the Pac-12, but the former No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022 has traveled south down I-5 from Stanford, where she played her freshman season, to UCLA as a transfer last April.
Betts, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center, is already playing more than she did with the Cardinal. She’s performing well, averaging 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 78.6 percent from the field. However, Betts says this season feels different for other reasons. “I’m very comfortable where I am right now,” she says. She feels confident enough to sing in front of teammates — “I can do that, and do it with joy,” she says — and confident enough to call for the ball when play dictates. “I can walk into practice every day and give it my all and know that I’m valued by this team,” Betts says. “And people love me off the court as well.”
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Yet, despite feeling re-energized, Betts also knows that as a second tour begins, she’s still building back her sense of self.
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Betts’ one year at Stanford didn’t go the way she expected. Despite arriving in Palo Alto to great fanfare, she was used sparingly and played less than 10 minutes per game. “I felt that Lauren was gonna get stuck there and things were not going to change,” her mother, Michelle Betts, says. Her father, Andy Betts, says the family realized Stanford “just wasn’t the right fit for her.”
Lauren Betts declined to elaborate specifically about her experiences with the Cardinal. A limited on-court role, however, was merely part of why she says she departed. “I would say that I did lose a lot of confidence last year,” she says. “There were a lot of emotions involved, and I knew for myself that I couldn’t do that for four years.”
UCLA had long been a place where she felt welcomed. She initially visited in high school, when the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed college campuses and Westwood became what she calls a “ghost town.” Unbeknown to UCLA’s coaches, Betts, her mother and her sister Sienna snuck around and took an unofficial tour themselves. (Sienna, the No. 3 recruit in the class of 2025, verbally committed to the Bruins on Nov. 11.) They posed for pictures outside of buildings and looked through the doors of the Mo Ostin Basketball Center to try to get a peek of the gym. “We couldn’t get in,” Michelle says. “But I just remember thinking, man, this campus is so pretty.”
Lauren’s relationship with Close took shape as she prepared to make her first college decision. During the recruiting process, they had winding conversations about serious matters as well as light-hearted talks about their interests. They spoke about race in America and the murder of George Floyd. Betts, a Disney fanatic, also recommended Close watch one of her favorite movies, “The Princess and the Frog,” which they talked about too.
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Nevertheless, the history and prestige of Stanford, as both a university and program, appealed. She committed to the Cardinal, though her fondness for Close remained. Shortly after Betts’ commitment, they were part of Team USA’s 2021 U19 World Cup roster. Lauren was initially nervous about how Close, who was serving as the head coach, would treat her. Close remembers Betts’ trepidation. At a dinner on their first night together in Hungary, Close reinforced that she wanted Betts to have a great experience at Stanford. Betts took a deep breath and smiled. Any tensions dissipated.
Last spring, Close and her staff had just finished a recruiting meeting when the team video coordinator called out to the room that Betts had entered the transfer portal. Close says bringing in Betts immediately became a “number one priority.” She believed the Bruins, who last season went 27-10 and lost in the Sweet 16 to South Carolina, had an advantage. “We weren’t building from ground zero,” Close says.
Betts and the coaches had built a relationship on trust, openness and support. “They look at her as a person. It’s not like some commodity,” Michelle says. And on the first night of Betts’ official visit to UCLA last spring, Close hosted a team dinner at her home for Betts and her parents, wanting to develop their previous bond.
Prior to the meal, on a cold spring evening in Los Angeles, players asked Close what it would take for her to jump in her pool. Close responded: “Only one way, and that is a commitment from Lauren.” Never did Close think it actually would come that night.
But as the occasion wrapped, Betts stood outside of Close’s door with her parents, who were preparing to return to their hotel. Lauren was shaking. A first college commitment is a big deal, let alone a second. She told her parents, “I think I’m ready to do this.” They were fully supportive.
Betts walked back inside Close’s house and called out: “I’m committing.” Betts says Close started to “freak out.” Players swarmed Betts for hugs. They leaped in elation. Then, at the end of the only school she visited in her re-recruiting process, Close made good on her promise. She jumped in the pool fully clothed.
Lauren Betts is introduced at the start of a game for UCLA, where she’s a first-time starter. (Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)In May, Betts was invited to take part in Team USA’s AmeriCup trials, a training camp set up in preparation for this past summer’s tournament. For some, accepting the invitation might have been a given. But Michelle says it was different for her daughter. “It was difficult for Lauren to go to something like that because she did not feel very confident at the time, especially after the season that had happened.”
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A brief break, Lauren thought, could be worthwhile. Her family pushed her to try out anyway. Throughout the five days, her mother voiced constant positive affirmations. Whatever you need to be great, you have it. Her father noticed after the first few practices Lauren felt she belonged again. She realized she could compete against the country’s best college players.
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Betts made the team and averaged a double-double in its silver medal run. “It was a really big moment for me,” she says. She’s building on that momentum at UCLA.
Close says she tries to provide Betts with a road map to earn her confidence back. They have an open line of dialogue. “She’s very open to hearing my perception on things,” Betts says. Senior forward Izzy Anstey, who is one of Betts’ roommates, says that Betts knows how to let Close push her, and that Close knows how to draw the best out of Betts.
Extra time on-court with Close and assistants has been instrumental. The Bruins also meet with Collin Henderson, UCLA’s director of mental conditioning, typically via Zoom. The Bruins take part in visualizations and are tasked with evaluating their self-talk and developing “re-focus” routines.
Betts says this helps her immensely, but she’s still working on how to reset. When teammates catch her getting down on herself, they remind her of those lessons. Betts will cycle through positive statements. Next one. You’re fine. You’re amazing. You’re good. You’re talented. “You really just have to build yourself up as much as you can in those moments,” Betts says.
Her perseverance has also grown. In the postgame tunnel after scoring 22 points in a win over Princeton, she told Close, “I can do hard things.”
AND-OOOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE 🗣️
LAUREN BETTS WITH THE BIG BOARD AND TOUGH FINISH 💪
📺: Pac-12 Network#GoBruins | @laurenbetts12 pic.twitter.com/8bqvCc585g
— UCLA W. Basketball (@UCLAWBB) November 17, 2023
It’s all part of an ongoing process. Betts is still only starting to understand the impact she can have. Entering Friday’s matchup against No. 6 UConn, the second-ranked Bruins are 38 points better per 100 possessions with her on the floor. She is shooting 78.6 percent from the field, the second-best mark nationally of any power conference player who is taking six or more shots per game. Her attention on the inside has freed up guards on the perimeter. UCLA is shooting 44.4 percent on corner 3-pointers with her on the court, which is 11.1 percent better than with her off, according to CBB Analytics. Defensively, her ability to cover bigs one-on-one means the Bruins haven’t felt pressure to double in the post.
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Still, Close knows there’s plenty more on-court improvement to be made, such as how Betts handles physicality or how aggressively she seals opponents. With added responsibility comes a need for more consistency. “I just think (Betts is) scratching the surface,” Close says.
Before her first career start on Nov. 6, nerves washed over Betts. She admitted as much to her parents. Michelle told her, “Do what you do.” In the pregame locker room, Betts grabbed assistant Shannon LeBeauf’s hands, looked her in the eyes, took a breath and repeated, “I’m OK.”
LeBeauf replied: “You’re gonna be fine. You’re Lauren Betts. You got this.”
Betts then ran onto the court and took center stage. Her latest tour is only just beginning. She’s ready to let the college basketball world hear her sing.
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(Photos of Lauren Betts: Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)
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