A 6’7 Lauren Betts seems to be the solution every WNBA team needs. The Bruins center was projected to go No. 1 in 2026 for months, but ESPN now has her at No. 2 in an oscillating situation. She could still easily go to the top, possibly joining Paige Bueckers. Her record speaks for itself. She won the 2025 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year, 2025 Lisa Leslie Award, given to the nation’s top center. 

Betts was selected to the Associated Press First Team All-America and the USBWA First Team All-America for the 2024–25 season. The Bruins also have a legitimate shot at the National championship, rivaling UConn and South Carolina if Betts is at her best. Let’s dive into the Bruins phenom’s past and understand more about the person behind the hoops star. 

Where is Lauren Betts from, and What is Lauren Betts’ Nationality?

Lauren Betts was born in Vitoria, Spain. She lived in Barcelona, Seville, Málaga, and San Sebastian before moving to Colorado at the age of eight.  Even after being born abroad, Lauren Betts is American by nationality. She has an American mother and has been raised and domiciled in the United States, which gives a clear path to U.S. citizenship. 

Betts has already represented the US at the international level. She won gold medals at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary and, 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Chile. “It’s amazing,” Betts had said after her U16 selection for the 2019 FIBA Americas, “I really had dreamed about being on this team, and it’s like a dream come true to me. It just shows how my hard work has paid off. It’s really amazing and I’m just thankful to be on this team.”

Betts attended Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado. According to ESPN HoopGurlz and Prospects Nation, she was a 5-star and named the number one player in the country. She was a McDonald’s All-American, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, and a Jordan Brand Classic All-American. That was just a few out of a host of other individual achievements. She won the Colorado state championship as a senior in 2021-22, averaging 17.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, and 3.5 assists per game. 

However, all those achievements and the hype affected Betts negatively in a sense. The star became a perfectionist and often doubted herself. She says her need to be perfect began in high school. “Our first or second day of orientation, we had to get her out of the bathroom because she was crying,”  her high school coach, Josh Ulizky, said. “She was just trying to fit in, just trying to please.” 

The online hate and constant criticism took a toll on a young Betts. “It was just really hard for me to hear why I shouldn’t be No. 1 my entire high school career,” She told SI. She has since grown past those issues. Betts has started playing a lot lighter and more like herself after transferring from Stanford to UCLA. 

What is Lauren Betts’ Ethnicity and Religion?

Betts was born in Spain to a British father and an American mother, giving her a mixed British‑American background with Spanish birth ties. Her father, Andy Betts, was a professional basketball player from the UK, playing for their national team. He was picked in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. But continued his career abroad. Lauren and her sister Sienna grew up in that environment. “Her and Sienna, they used to be in the front row dancing around with the cheerleaders and mascots anytime there was music on,” Andy says. “They definitely grew up understanding and seeing basketball.”

Her mother, Michelle Betts, is American. She was a volleyball player at Long Beach State, winning the 1993 National Championship. The Betts family has kept their religious beliefs private. There is no public information about Lauren Betts’ specific religious beliefs, so it is not known if she is Christian.