How Lauren Betts helped her WNBA Draft stock by unlocking another level of toughness

Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz look at which player helped their WNBA Draft stock after the NCAA Women’s Tournament. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.

Video Transcript

Whose March Madness run helped improve their W draft stock the most to you?

I think it’s Lauren Betts, and look, Lauren Betts even going into the tournament, Lauren Betts going into the season was viewed as a potential number one overall pick.

So it’s, it, it’s not like Lauren Betts went from this obscure name that nobody was ever talking about to all of a sudden talked about in the number one overall contention.

I want to acknowledge that.

But I think what Lauren Betts showed on their run to a national championship is a certain level of leadership, a certain level of maturity, and a certain level of she can take the game over in several different ways.

I mean, the way that she can score, the way that she can guard the basket, the way that she is such a presence in the paint.

She has something that you can’t coach.

You can’t coach 6’7″.

So that’s been there, right?

There is a certain element of Lauren Betts that’s always been, made her such an intriguing draft prospect.

But I think there was just this certain level, a next level that was unlocked from Lauren Betts, whether it was her leadership, whether it was the ability to get smacked in the mouth and to, then to continue to bear down and keep going.

I question that, about this entire UCLA team and about Lauren Betts, just because they hadn’t, at least it hadn’t felt like they’d been overly tested throughout this past season.

They lost one game, and that was to Texas in the month of November.

Then throughout conference play, just didn’t feel like UCLA was battle tested to, a- at least not enough to really, you know, wear the, the, the weathering of, of the NCAA tournament.

Then against Duke, Duke got out to an early lead.

Duke was leading at halftime, and then we saw this different level of UCLA and of Lauren Betts get unlocked.

I also think it would be naive to say that playing your best basketball on the biggest stages against the best teams in the country doesn’t matter.

Of course it does.

It absolutely matters that Lauren Betts led her team against Texas, one of the best teams in the country.

They out Texas-ed Texas, out-defensed one of the best defensive teams in the country in Texas, and then beat and whooped South Carolina the way that they did.

I think that Lauren Betts is viewed as not just a prospect and a player, but a legitimate leader a little bit differently, at least I do, coming out of the NCAA tournament, Fitzy.

Yeah, I think you’re right.

It had to change a little bit of the way that we view Not that she needed to change.

Let’s say it had to enhance a little bit of the way that we view her- Yeah because she played so well and was so key and was just such a physical presence.

Like, that, that’s the thing, too, that when you see that level of dominance and you ask yourself, what’s gonna translate over to the next level, well, certain things like size are going to translate, athleticism gonna translate.

She showed all of that, repeatedly.

How Lauren Betts helped her WNBA Draft stock by unlocking another level of toughness

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