Top 2022 Lauren Betts to Stanford

Photo Cred: Brittany Graham

Wednesday morning saw an early announcement by 2022 No. 1 Prospect Lauren Betts that she is headed to Palo Alto to play for Stanford and Tara VanDerveer. Betts is the second 2022 prospect to come off the board. Stanford is the current No. 1 team in the country and legendary Head Coach VanDerveer recently become the winningest coach in women’s basketball history.

Betts is coming off a sophomore season playing for Head Coach Josh Ulitzky at Grandview HS (CO) where she averaged 17.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 3.9 blocks. Her freshman year the Grandview team made it to the State Championship game only to see Cherry Creek, led by current Stanford freshmen PG Jana VanGytenbeek, take home the title. Last season saw them on the same path in the playoffs only to have the State Final between Cherry Creek and Grandview cancelled due to covid concerns. This season Colorado schools are on track to start playing games in early February.



Academically, Lauren’s schedule has its fair share of AP classes. Her basketball resume includes a gold medal with the 2019 U16 FIBA Americas Team. She averaged 12.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game and was named All-Tournament.

Born in Vitoria, Spain, basketball has played an impactful role in Lauren’s life since she was born. Father Andy is from England and played professionally overseas in Spain, Greece, and the Ukraine and mother Michelle played volleyball at Long Beach State, where the two met. Lauren has two younger siblings who also play basketball: Sienna, 14 and Dylan, 10. Sienna

In speaking with Lauren, she offered these thoughts:

“I chose Stanford not only for the great basketball program, but for the great academics. As far as location, they are just perfect. It is close to home and it is easy for all of my family to go and watch games. My family is super important to me. As far as the team, they are all very close and they are all sweet girls. I am so excited to join them. They are just amazing people.”



Andy Betts shared: “This is a very, very proud moment. It’s been a long process, a tough one at times with a lot of stress, but it’s also been exciting to speak with all these coaches and get to know so many people.”

Michelle Betts offered some personal insight as well. “My heart goes out to the kids and the coaches this year, with everything with covid because it’s like a completely different version of recruiting. The whole thing has been on Zoom. The coaches have been outstanding. We have had lots of great lengthy conversations with them. She got to have a lot of deep conversations, but none of the home visits or the campus unofficial visits. I think Lauren got to the point where she was like ‘You know, I think I know everything I need to know about the coaches and how it is going to continue to be, so with what I know, I feel comfortable making this decision.’ “

Lauren mentioned that the recruitment that made the most impact on her were the staffs who really invested in getting to know her so well personally. “Especially this year to me, it was just who was going to make that effort to get to know me. Obviously, I think Stanford did a really good job. We did multiple Zooms with them and I felt like, even though I couldn’t see them in person, I could create that connection and that bond.”

At the end Betts chose Stanford over Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, UCONN, and South Carolina.

Betts is Stanford’s first commitment in the 2022 class. When she gets on campus, she will join 2021 signees Brooke Demetre (CA) and Okikiola Iriafen (CA). Stanford continues to bring in All-American caliber talent and should be a Final 4 contender and in the conversation for NCAA Championships for years to come.