A lot of things are going right for the UCLA Bruins this season. They rank sixth in 3-point percentage and third in field-goal percentage, they average the second-most assists per game, and they rose to second place in the rankings.
There are many reasons UCLA is one of the best teams in the country. Individual talent is one of them. Lauren Betts is one of the best centers in college basketball, Gianna Kneepkens and Gabriela Jaquez are shooting the three incredibly well, and Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker turned out to be a great guard duo. What makes it all work so well is the experience UCLA’s key players share. Betts, Rice, Kneepkens, Leger-Walker, Jaquez, and Angela Dugalić are all seniors. Four of them have a very good chance of going to the WNBA.
Their talent and experience will continue to impact UCLA even after they are gone because they are helping to prepare the next generation of stars. Freshman Sienna Betts—Lauren Betts’s sister—praised her veteran teammates for their leadership after the team’s 80-67 win over Illinois.
“I’m just really lucky,” Betts said in the postgame media availability. “I don’t think many get this experience just playing with so many different WNBA prospects, and they’re not just great players, but they’re great people, and they’re great leaders to each other but to us younger people as well. So, I think it just teaches us a lot, and I’m growing and learning every single day, and it just makes me prepared for moments like this where I do get my opportunity to go out there.”
UCLA will lose a lot of talent very soon
Sienna Betts left high school as the No.2 recruit in her class. Nevertheless, she averages only 15.3 minutes per game. Talent is not the issue here. Depth is. UCLA has so many experienced players that Betts has to fight for every minute of playing time. That is a big change for someone who was a star in high school, but it is also an opportunity to adjust to the college game without pressure and learn from players who know what it takes to be successful at this level.
Betts, fellow freshman Lena Bilić, and sophomore Amanda Muse will have to be ready to fill bigger roles soon, though. UCLA will lose its six top scorers and playmakers after this season. Head coach Cori Close found success in the transfer portal ahead of this season and should be able to attract talent that way again. The young players currently on the roster will still have to step up, though, which is why it is so important that they learn from the older players on the roster now—and that is how the veterans’ impact will still be felt after they move on to the pro level.