UCLA junior Lauren Betts confirmed that she will return to Los Angeles for her senior season, ESPN reported on Friday night. The 6’7 center, who will turn 22 this year, would have been eligible to declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft, where she was projected to be a top-10 pick.
This news comes in the middle of an incredible season for Betts, who is averaging 20.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. She is in the running for National Player of the Year and has helped the No. 1 Bruins to the longest winning streak in program history. They are 22-0 and have beaten several ranked teams, including then-No. 1 South Carolina, then-No. 8 Maryland and current No. 8 Ohio State.
Betts has notably improved her quickness and the speed of her decision-making this season, as The Next editor-in-chief Howard Megdal chronicled at The IX in January.
“With the mobility part, I’ve got to give a shout out to Ash [Samaniego], our trainer, because he kicked our butts all preseason long this summer,” Betts told reporters after a win over then-No. 25 Baylor on Jan. 20. “Just working on fast sprints, just getting moving a little bit. And I think that has to do a lot with how I’m moving this year. And then decision-making, I think that’s just something that I’ve been working on all preseason. I think I just get a lot of reps in practice, and so I’ve just gotten used to it.”
Just a few days before announcing that she’ll return in 2025-26, the Colorado native recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds against Ohio State. UCLA defeated the Buckeyes 65-52.
“College is the best years of your life, and so I don’t think I’d ever give that up,” Betts told ESPN. “Why not be spoiled for a whole another year? The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I’ve created — I’d want to do that for another year.”
To make her return even more special, she’ll get to play her final college season with her sister, Sienna Betts. The 6’4 forward signed with UCLA in November.
“I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I’m going to come back next year,” Lauren Betts said.
Betts also has her eyes on another prize: a national championship. “If not this year, then obviously next year, but hopefully we could just do it both times,” she said. Last season, UCLA fell short in the Sweet 16, losing to LSU 78-69.
Related reading: UCLA’s mental toughness, then and now
Betts’ senior season will be her third with UCLA after she spent her freshman year at Stanford. She averaged 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a Cardinal and was named a Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention, but she struggled with her confidence and decided to transfer. She was the nation’s top recruit in the high school class of 2022, according to HoopGurlz.
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