For a player who seemed to have it all after transferring to UCLA, Lauren Betts’ biggest opponent wasn’t on the court. It was a silent battle with depression that she has now bravely decided to share.

Betts penned an emotional Players’ Tribune write-up detailing her battle with depression, relaying how she even had to take a trip to the hospital to deal with her mental health and how her UCLA teammates supported her afterwards.

She narrated, “I felt like I was letting my teammates down. I was so embarrassed and mad at myself. They lost a couple of games during my absence, and I was like, My team really needs me right now. What am I doing? The whole time I was in the hospital, I was thinking about our group. What are they thinking about me? How are they going to react? I was just so ashamed… They were all like, ‘We’re so happy that you took care of yourself. You’re coming back even better. We love you.’”

High-performance athletes often come under great mental stress but ignore it because of their laser-focused approach towards excelling in their sport. Lauren Betts was a casualty of the same mindset after her transfer to UCLA, especially with her name being propelled so much in the media.

With the unwavering support of her teammates, Betts not only rediscovered her love for the game but also became the on-court leader for a Bruins team on the verge of a historic season.

And while Betts herself admits that overcoming it is a constant process, the 22-year-old has been unstoppable on the floor for UCLA, becoming a part of a roster full of players who extended their stay in college basketball to continue playing together for as long as possible for their alma mater.

Betts is a top WNBA Draft prospect, especially after winning the Big Ten Tournament this year against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Bruins open their NCAA Tournament campaign against 16-seed California Baptist, and Cori Close would hope Betts and her band of seniors can bid college basketball a goodbye triumphantly.

Lauren Betts and her UCLA Bruins’ seniors are standing on the verge of history

The UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team is experiencing its golden era lately under Cori Close. Back-to-back regular-season Big Ten titles ended a 25-year drought. However, Cori Close & co. became the first UCLA women’s team to land Big Ten Tournament Championships in 2025, repeating it in 2026 with a win over Iowa in the final.

Betts stated in The Players’ Tribune,” When I started playing basketball, that was super freeing. It became my happy place. For once, people weren’t just looking at me because I was tall. It was like, Well, she’s tall, AND she plays basketball, AND she’s the shit.”

While the UCLA Bruins have had good years in women’s basketball, they made their first Final Four appearance in the National Championship last year, falling short to UConn by a wide margin. Betts was the only positive in that loss, scoring 26 points as her teammates struggled.

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Much has changed since last year, though. The first seed they’ve received in the NCAA Brackets already makes them favored to reach the Final Four. The Bruins look better prepared to handle the pressures of the tournament this year, and they can set up a rematch with the Huskies if they overcome other hurdles and reach the Final, which will be their first-ever NCAA Finals appearance in the college program’s history.

The special quality of this Bruins roster was highlighted by Coach Cori Close’s admission. UCLA can make history by sending a record number of players to the WNBA in a single season. And these players have delayed their WNBA dreams to lead the UCLA college program to heights they never reached before. Betts hopes to lead UCLA on a historic tournament run before taking her talents to the WNBA.