UCLA girls’s basketball star Lauren Betts will return for her senior season in 2025-26, she instructed ESPN on Friday evening.
Betts, a 6-foot-7 draft-eligible junior who will flip 22 this 12 months, was projected to be a top-five WNBA choose had she declared this 12 months.
“School is the very best years of your life, and so I do not assume I might ever give that up,” Betts stated. “Why not be spoiled for a complete one other 12 months? The best way the coaches handle us on this program, like, how snug I’m right here, and I believe that the friendships I’ve created — I might wish to do this for one more 12 months.”
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Betts, a participant of the 12 months contender, has elevated the Bruins from a Candy 16 program to the No. 1 workforce within the nation. She is averaging 20.2 factors, 9.9 rebounds and a pair of.9 blocks and has led them to a 22-0 begin. She recorded her twelfth double-double of the season (19 factors, 14 rebounds) in UCLA’s 65-52 win over No. 8 Ohio State on Wednesday.
“I wish to win a nationwide championship, clearly, if not this 12 months, then clearly subsequent 12 months, however hopefully we might simply do it each instances,” Betts stated.
Betts had beforehand hinted at returning to UCLA for her senior season, however confirmed her plan to ESPN on Friday.
In her senior season, the star heart is ready to play alongside her sister, Sienna Betts, a 6-4 ahead who signed with UCLA in November.
“I believe that I’d be loopy if I gave up the chance to play with my sister, so clearly, I will come again subsequent 12 months,” Betts stated.
The 2025-26 season will likely be Betts’ third with UCLA after she began her collegiate profession at Stanford. Betts performed at Grandview Excessive Faculty in Aurora, Colorado, the place she was ranked the No. 1 prospect nationally by ESPN. She was a McDonald’s All American and twice was named Colorado’s Gatorade Participant of the 12 months.