DHJ Quick Take: From Hollywood to the Pros<\/p>\n
The Draft Outlook: Lauren Betts enters Monday as the prohibitive favorite for the Minnesota Lynx at No. 2, while Kiki Rice\u2018s draft stock is surging toward the Chicago Sky at No. 5. Their ability to lead a \u201cplayer-led\u201d locker room at UCLA makes them the most pro-ready leadership duo in the 2026 class.<\/p>\n
The \u201cTexas\u201d Reset: Both players pointed to their lone loss against Texas as the catalyst for their 37-1 season. That ability to use failure as fuel is exactly why WNBA front offices are enamored with the Bruins\u2018 core; they don\u2019t just win, they adjust.<\/p>\n
Modern Big Strategy: Betts\u2019 desire to \u201cspread the floor\u201d and \u201cswitch out on guards\u201d is music to the ears of Lynx fans. In a league defined by mobility, a 6-foot-7 center with defensive versatility is the ultimate franchise building block.<\/p>\n
Investing in the Moment: As Rice noted, the \u201ccongratulations\u201d and media coverage surrounding their Cane\u2019s shift prove that the investment in women\u2019s basketball is paying massive dividends. They aren\u2019t just draft picks; they are marketable stars entering the league at its peak.<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014\u00a0Fresh off the most dominant championship run in UCLA Women\u2019s Basketball history, Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice brought the party to Hollywood on Thursday, clocking in for a special Raising Cane\u2019s \u201cshift\u201d at the chain\u2019s 6800 Sunset Blvd. location before turning their attention to Monday\u2019s WNBA Draft. Dallas Hoops Journal<\/a> stopped by the event while in town, covering the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>\u2018 recent three-game road trip before the end of their regular season.<\/p>\n The two Bruins stars worked the front counter and drive-thru, served Craveable Chicken Finger Meals to lucky customers selected from the line, and soaked in the kind of celebratory energy that has followed them since UCLA\u2019s 79-51 dismantling of South Carolina on Sunday. Betts is emerging as the favorite to go No. 2 to the Minnesota Lynx, while Rice is increasingly favored to land at No. 5 with the Chicago Sky.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team loves Cane\u2019s,\u201d Betts said at the event. \u201cWe have a slogan on our team \u2014 we always say, \u2018Let\u2019s get this chicken.\u2019 So it\u2019s kind of perfect that we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n A Championship Built on Accountability<\/p>\n The Bruins finished 37-1, with their only blemish coming in a regular-season loss to Texas \u2014 a defeat both players credited as the defining moment of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cOur loss to Texas was a really big turning point for our team,\u201d Betts said. \u201cWe learned a lot about how we need to come out, how we need to start games, and the mentality that we need to have \u2014 being aggressive from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we played them again, we were not going to take it easy on them from the very beginning. I think we all just needed a little reset, and that pushed us. We\u2019ve gotten a lot better since then.\u201d<\/p>\n Rice described a shift in team culture that accelerated UCLA\u2019s run to the title.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen our team became player-led versus coach-led, that\u2019s when we took the biggest turn,\u201d Rice said. \u201cAs players, us taking responsibility to be leaders and take control of the team and the room was huge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe fearless in your leadership. That\u2019s something we talk about a lot \u2014 not being afraid to say the hard things, not being afraid to really push your teammates and have tough conversations, because those are the times where you have the most growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Betts credited the program\u2019s daily grind for holding everything together when the stakes were highest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe push each other every single day. We hold each other accountable. We\u2019re all very competitive and we don\u2019t take it easy on each other,\u201d Betts said. \u201cWhen big games happen, the trust that you\u2019ve built over time just shows. That\u2019s why we gel so well together, because we have so much faith in each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Walking Into the Title Game With No Doubt<\/p>\n By the time UCLA reached the national championship, Rice said the outcome felt inevitable from the moment the team entered the building.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, when we walked in the gym, we were confident. You could just feel the vibe, feel the energy that we had when we started warmups,\u201d Rice said. \u201cYou look around the team and in the locker room, and you\u2019re like, okay \u2014 no one on this team is going to be okay with losing today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey just emphasized that we\u2019re prepared. We\u2019ve worked for this moment. We don\u2019t need to do anything differently than what we\u2019ve done this entire season.\u201d<\/p>\n When the final buzzer sounded, Rice said the feeling was unlike anything she had experienced.<\/p>\n \u201cTo feel the confetti coming down on our faces and to be up there on the stage and win a national championship \u2014 that\u2019s what we came here to do,\u201d Rice said. \u201cTo finally achieve that goal and finish out our college careers in the best way possible was so special.\u201d<\/p>\n Betts, who earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors along with Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, reflected on what the accolades actually represent.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of the accolades would be possible without the program that I\u2019m playing for and the position that I\u2019m in,\u201d Betts said. \u201cThese girls have changed my life, these coaches have made me so much better, and none of this would be possible without them.\u201d<\/p>\n Eyes on the Draft<\/p>\n With Monday\u2019s WNBA Draft approaching, both players used the Raising Cane\u2019s appearance to speak openly about where their heads are as they enter the next chapter. Betts, projected to the Lynx at No. 2, and Rice, increasingly linked to Chicago at No. 5, each spoke about what they are looking for as they prepare to begin their professional careers.<\/p>\n Betts expressed gratitude for the infrastructure that has made the moment possible.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for all the people that put in so much work to create amazing opportunities for people like Kiki and me going into the draft,\u201d Betts said. \u201cWe don\u2019t take that for granted. They\u2019re setting the stage for people like us to have amazing opportunities and to set ourselves up for life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt took a village. We\u2019re making our dreams come true. If my younger self could see me now, she\u2019d be very, very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n On the court, Betts said her focus heading into the professional game will be on expanding her skillset beyond the post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about continuing to work on my skills there, preparing my one-on-one game, trying to spread the floor a little bit more if I can, and continuing to grow in all aspects,\u201d Betts said. \u201cDefensively, that\u2019s going to be really key for me \u2014 being able to switch out on guards. That\u2019s something I take a lot of pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n Rice, meanwhile, said she is approaching the draft with a focus on the right organizational fit.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just an environment where I can go in, make an impact, learn from the people around me, and play with really high-quality people in a high-quality organization,\u201d Rice said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to go somewhere new and have the ability to learn from the players around me, the management, the coaches, and help impact the people around me.\u201d<\/p>\n Women\u2019s Basketball\u2019s Moment<\/p>\n Rice has been vocal throughout the NCAA Tournament about the broader wave women\u2019s sports is riding, and Thursday\u2019s event gave her another platform to reinforce that message.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see the growth of women\u2019s basketball and women\u2019s sports over these past few years has been really fantastic,\u201d Rice said. \u201cThe support, the love that we get \u2014 all the congratulations that we\u2019ve been getting over the past few days has been really fun. That obviously shows that when you invest in women\u2019s sports, you get a great turnout.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of people interested in our stories, who want to cover us, who want to hear what we have to say. It\u2019s just really cool to have opportunities like this and be playing women\u2019s sports at a time when we\u2019re truly growing at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s celebration was part of a coast-to-coast Raising Cane\u2019s championship tour. While Betts and Rice served fans in Los Angeles, Michigan men\u2019s basketball champions Nimari Burnett and Charlie May held their own event simultaneously in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n The WNBA Draft takes place Monday, April 13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DHJ Quick Take: From Hollywood to the Pros The Draft Outlook: Lauren Betts enters Monday as the prohibitive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-582255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}