{"id":26581,"date":"2025-06-30T07:47:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T07:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/26581\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T07:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T07:47:17","slug":"ucla-has-a-new-plan-for-lauren-betts-will-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/26581\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA Has A New Plan for Lauren Betts. Will It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks after UCLA\u2019s 2024-25 season ended with a loss to UConn in the Final Four, Bruins coach Cori Close sat down with her All-American forward, 6-foot-4 senior Lauren Betts, for a heart-to-heart conversation. Betts had been one of the top players in the country as a junior, but Close believed the grueling toll of the season, during which Betts averaged 30.1 minutes per game, was too much. Close revealed to Betts that for her final college season, she wanted her to play a little less, shoot a little less, and hopefully win a little more.<\/p>\n

At first, Betts was resistant to the plan, but the more they discussed it, the better it sounded. The reason? \u201cLauren wants to win a national championship, period.\u201d Close told Hoops HQ.<\/p>\n

\"Rising<\/p>\n

Rising graduate Angela Dugalic is one of three starters UCLA will return this year<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

If Close and Betts can find the right balance between her individual brilliance and team balance, then the Bruins could not only return to the Final Four in 2026, but win two more games there. UCLA returns three other starters in graduate student Angela Dugalic, 5-foot-10 senior Gabriela Jaquez and 5-foot-11 senior Kiki Rice, plus a key bench contributor in 6-foot-3 senior forward Timea Gardiner. Rice and Gardiner are also healthy for the first time in two years, Close said, with Rice coming off shoulder surgery and Gardiner finally overcoming a lingering knee injury that has been bothering her since she played at Oregon State.<\/p>\n

Graduate-student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who transferred from Washington State but missed last season due to an ACL injury, is also recovered. Leger-Walker started practicing with the team midway through the season and Close said everyone was surprised by the 5-foot-10 guard\u2019s skillset. \u201cShe started doing full practices in February and it was like everyone almost forgot how good she was,\u201d Close said. \u201cAnd then it was like, \u2018Oh my gosh.\u2019 Her talent is undeniable. She has the feel of when she needs to score, who needs to get the next touch and how to prepare the team for the next possession. That is hard to teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins are also adding Betts\u2019 younger sister Sienna as a freshman. The 6-foot-4 forward was the two-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year and is ranked the No. 2 recruit by ESPN\u2019s HoopGurlz. Sienna will also help minimize Lauren\u2019s workload, as the leftie forward can also play the five in her place, in addition to the four. \u201cI think she is going to be an impact player this year,\u201d Close said.<\/p>\n

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The veterans will be especially important given that the entire freshman class \u2014 6-foot-1 guard Avery Cain, 6-foot-3 forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, 5-foot-10 guard Elina Aarnisalo and 6-foot-2 forward Kendall Dudley \u2013 transferred. Londynn Jones, a 5-foot-4 junior guard who had been with the program since her freshman season and 6-foot-4 junior forward Janiah Barker, who had transferred in from Texas A&M, also left UCLA. Close sat down with Barker and Jones to have conversations about their futures. Both have just one year of eligibility remaining, and both opted to move on to different programs. Barker landed at Tennessee, while Jones is staying in LA after transferring to USC. \u201cWe said ahead of time that we would put all of our cards on the table, and if there wasn\u2019t alignment then they had my full support to go ahead and move on,\u201d Close said.<\/p>\n

With Leger-Walker returning and Gardiner gearing up to play more minutes, Close knew it was inevitable that players would leave the program. She wasn\u2019t surprised to lose her freshman class, with the exception of Aarnisalo, who would have played significant minutes, but the other departures still stung. \u201cAny time something doesn\u2019t work out with a player, it rips your heart out,\u201d Close said. \u201cBut I always think to myself, \u2018If it doesn\u2019t rip your heart out, wouldn\u2019t you have bigger problems?\u2019 If you are going to invest deeply in a person and it doesn\u2019t work out, that is going to hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Coach<\/p>\n

Coach Close thinks Lauren\u2019s sister, Sienna Betts will be a major impact player this season<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Close said none of her former players left for more money. Their decisions came down to playing time, fit and the desire to play bigger roles. \u201cWith the freshmen, they didn\u2019t want to wait until their junior years (to get significant court time),\u201d Close said. \u201cAnd how can you blame that? It\u2019s the new normal. As a coach, it is my job to adjust to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was some good that came from all those departures. Prior to any of her players telling Close they intended to transfer, she heard rumors that Utah guard Gianna Kneepkens was thinking of entering the portal. If everyone from the 2024-25 Final Four team had returned, UCLA wouldn\u2019t have had a scholarship for her. The 6-foot guard averaged 19.3 points, five rebounds and three assists per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from beyond the arc and 89 percent from the free throw line. Her shooting ability in particular was desirable for UCLA as they need players to spread the floor and take some pressure off Betts in the paint.<\/p>\n

Kneepkens was a four-year starter for Utah, but a broken foot during her junior season gave her one more year of eligibility. Throughout her career, Kneepkens has been one of the country\u2019s most underrated players, but according to Close, \u201cShe isn\u2019t underated to anyone who has played against her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins threw everything they had at wooing Kneepkens. \u201cWe went into high gear and just absolutely put all of our eggs in one basket,\u201d Close said. \u201cWe would have liked to sign maybe one more transfer, but the bottom line is, we made such a high commitment to her that we knew it would decrease our chances to land some others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making the Final Four was a learning experience for everyone, but Close didn\u2019t quite realize just how challenging things were behind the scenes until a week later when she\u00a0drove to the Wooden Awards with Betts and the two had a candid conversation. \u201cIf you knew all the distractions that we were managing, you would have been like, \u2018I can\u2019t believe we made it to the Final Four,\u2019\u201d Betts told her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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If it were just basketball and media obligations, Close and her players would have been focused and prepared. But because of the pending changes to Name, Image and Likeness rules, the players and coaches were working out details in the days leading up to the Final Four that had nothing to do with how they were going to beat UConn. \u201cNot only did we have the normal increased distractions of the Final Four, but we also had to meet with every single athlete and their families that week about their NIL contracts,\u201d Close said. \u201cThe judge could have signed new legislation into place on that Monday (two days after the loss to UConn) and if we didn\u2019t have signed contracts we wouldn\u2019t have been able to get the money out the door.\u201d The transfer portal was also already in full swing, which meant, whether consciously or subconsciously, many players were already contemplating their next steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those challenges weren\u2019t unique to UCLA, but Close admits that she, her staff and their players weren\u2019t fully ready to take them on. Now, with a Final Four \u2013 and all of its distractions \u2013 under their belts, the Bruins are ready to play the 2025-26 season with one goal in mind: Win the national championship. \u201cThere are no margins,\u201d Close said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about your talent. It\u2019s about your focus, your preparation and how you handle those distractions. If we want to be prepared to do better next time, we have to come in with a sharper focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins have the talent, the tools and now the experience to make it happen.<\/p>\n

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