Former Stanford center Lauren Betts announces transfer to UCLA women’s basketball
Freshman center Lauren Betts protects the paint from a Sacred Heart guard. Betts announced Tuesday via Instagram that she has committed to UCLA for her second collegiate season. (Courtesy of Stanford Athletics)
By Grace Whitaker
April 18, 2023 1:03 p.m.
This post was updated April 18 at 2:04 p.m.
The Bruins had the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in 2022.
And now, they’ve added the No. 1 recruit from that class through the transfer portal.
Former Stanford center Lauren Betts announced her transfer to UCLA women’s basketball Tuesday via an Instagram post. The 6-foot-7 Betts was the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2022, just ahead of fellow UCLA guard Kiki Rice, who was slated at No. 2 in the same class. The center received a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention last season and was recognized as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Feb. 13.
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Betts joins UCLA’s No. 1 recruiting class in the nation from 2022, headlined by Rice, guard Londynn Jones, guard Gabriela Jaquez, forward Lina Sontag and forward Christeen Iwuala. Betts is no stranger to her now-Bruin teammates as she competed in the 2022 McDonald’s All-American contest alongside Rice and Jaquez. She also competed under coach Cori Close in the 2021 Team USA U19 World Cup team.
During her time playing for the Cardinal, Betts averaged 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game in 9.7 minutes per contest.
This season, UCLA defeated Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals on March 3, completing a 16-point comeback over the Cardinal to advance to the championship game. This season, UCLA was the Pac-12 tournament runner-up and advanced to the Sweet 16, where the Bruins were sent home by South Carolina.
With the April 5 announcement of the return of senior guard and leading scorer Charisma Osborne for a fifth year alongside senior guard Camryn Brown, the Bruins will return nearly their entire roster in addition to Betts and All-American incoming freshman forward Amanda Muse.
