Lauren Betts is a 6’7″ center from Centennial, Colorado, who has tons of athleticism and size that have helped her tremendously throughout her career. Despite growing up in Colorado for most of her life, she was born in Vitoria, Spain, and also lived in Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, and San Sebastian before moving to the United States when she was just eight years old.
Lauren Betts High School and College Career
Betts attended Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado. According to ESPN HoopGurlz and Prospects Nation, she was a 5-star and named the number one player in the country. She was a McDonald’s All-American, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, and a Jordan Brand Classic All-American, among many other awards.
As a high school senior, she won the Colorado State Championship, averaging 17.2 points, 11 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, and 3.5 assists per game.
In addition to basketball, she played volleyball in her freshman year of high school. As a child, she also enjoyed competitive swimming. She ultimately gave up both swimming and volleyball to focus on basketball. That decision paid off, as she ultimately committed to playing basketball for the Stanford Cardinal.
Before college, she also spent time playing for USA Basketball as she won two gold medals. She was also the youngest player on the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup Team, where she nearly averaged a double-double.
She both individually and as a team enjoyed success her freshman year as a Cardinal. They won the Pac-12 and she was a PAC-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention. She appeared in 33 games averaging 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and nearly in one block in 9.7 minutes per game.
In just those 9.7 minutes per game, she ranked fourth on the team and rebounding and fifth in scoring. She is also tied with two other women for being the tallest in program history.
After transferring to UCLA, she was able to get a lot more playing time as she averaged 27.2 minutes per game her sophomore season. She led the team in points per game (14.9) and rebounds per game (9.3). She had many accomplishments that season, including the 2024 Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Top 10 List.
She just finished her junior season playing basketball for the UCLA Bruins, her second year with the Bruins. In her third collegiate season, she became even more dominant, setting a new single-season block record with 100 and also becoming the first Defensive Player of the Year from UCLA.
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Betts once again led the team in scoring at 20.3 points per game and was also the first Bruin to have 600+ points, 300+ rebounds, and 100+ blocks per game.
If she can keep it up and continue to improve, she looks to be a lock to be drafted to the WNBA in the first round.
Get to Know Betts’ Family
As athletic and talented as Betts is, she is not the only athletic one in her family with size. In matter of fact, even at 6’7, she is not the tallest in her family.
Lauren’s genetics started from her parents who were athletes themselves. Her mom, Michelle, played volleyball at Long Beach State. At Long Beach State, she was able to win the 1993 National Championship.
Lauren’s dad Andy, listed at 7’1, played basketball at Long Beach State before being taken in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He played basketball overseas for both England and Great Britain’s national teams. He played professional basketball in Europe for 14 years in Italy, Spain, Greece, and Ukraine.
It makes a lot of sense between her parents that one, why she is so tall and athletic, and two, her love and talent in both volleyball and basketball. However, even though she is the oldest of four, her siblings are also incredibly athletic.
Sienna is another talented Betts daughter and a great basketball player. At 6’4 feet tall as an 18 year-old, she is committed to play basketball with her older sister at UCLA. She was the second overall recruit in her class, in the class of 2025. She will get to play one year with her sister before ultimately creating her own legacy.
Sienna also played at the same high school that her older sister once dominated at. When she committed to UCLA, she brought her mother Michelle to tears as she not only got the chance to play with her older sister, but she gets to wear #16 which her mom wore at Long Beach State.
If 6’4 and 6’7 weren’t tall enough, Dylan Betts the younger brother of both Lauren and Sienna is a freshman at Cherry Creek High School. As a freshman, Dylan is listed at 7’2 and already has offers from UNLV and the University of Washington.
Since he is only a freshman, there will be tons of college offers still come to in. Maybe he wants to be at UCLA just like his sisters were.
There is not a lot of information on their other brother Ashton. However, it is safe to assume that he is pretty tall and very athletic just like everyone else in the family. It is very rare and difficult for one person to be a Division I athlete.
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However, the Betts family is unique as they most likely will have at least five Division I athletes in their family which is absurd.
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