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Betts to UCLA (merged)

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Cuango said:
Don’t forget, she also has her top player Charisma Osborne coming back as she withdrew from the draft in order to play one more year. We’ll see, but certainly there’s no shortage of talent on that roster.
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The talent is there, that is for sure. Now they just need to put it all together in one nice package. Watching some of their games last year, you could see the potential to becoming a pretty solid team. I hope this addition of Betts, along with Kiki Rice going into her second year, this is something to build on for UCLA women's basketball.
 
MSGRET said:
So UCLA wins the PAC 12 next season and then the BIG 10 next August. Then takes out everyone in that Conference for the following 2 years. Don't see them winning it all for at least the next couple of years, UConn is it until Azzi leaves.
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I think you are overrate Close as a coach here. Maybe that happens but there is a still quite a bit of player development and offensive and defensive schemes that need to happen for that to come to fruition imo.
 
The person I feel for in all of this is Jada Williams. The poor kid had her heart set on UCLA a year and a half ago, and even had a couple of very sharp looking videos made about her process of choosing them. It was so touching to see.

Then Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones signed NLIs for UCLA and Jada saw her dreams of leading the Bruins to glory suddenly eclipsed. The only thing to do was switch her heart’s desire to Arizona which, frankly, isn’t that much further away from La Jolla. Plus her HS buddy Breya Cunningham was going there.

Now UCLA is looking like an NC contender and I really hope Jada isn’t regretting her decision(s).

All kidding aside, Jada Williams has some spark in her and, if she can settle into the hard work of practices and schoolwork, she can be a star anywhere. I look forward to seeing her play at the D1 level.
 
JellyBean said:
The talent is there, that is for sure. Now they just need to put it all together in one nice package. Watching some of their games last year, you could see the potential to becoming a pretty solid team. I hope this addition of Betts, along with Kiki Rice going into her second year, this is something to build on for UCLA women's basketball.
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It’s a good bet that Lauren will be much happier at UCLA, and will be their starting center on day one. Most players that transfer usually make a better decision the second time they assess potential schools to attend.
 
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A good get for UCLA. I'm a little disappointed as I thought that she would be a good fit at UConn, and thereby allow Aaliyah to move to her more natural power forward spot, where she will most likely be in the pros. Ms. Deberry, the ball, literally, is in your court, now. You've shown glimpses, however limited, as to the talent that you possess. It's up to you to put it all together, and force a certain head coach to play you.
 
Shenandoah said:
A good get for UCLA. I'm a little disappointed as I thought that she would be a good fit at UConn, and thereby allow Aaliyah to move to her more natural power forward spot, where she will most likely be in the pros. Ms. Deberry, the ball, literally, is in your court, now. You've shown glimpses, however limited, as to the talent that you possess. It's up to you to put it all together, and force a certain head coach to play you.
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I never thought Bett's would be a great fit for us offensively. Yes she'd let Aaliyah play the four but she'd clog the paint up too much doing it, not give Aaliyah or anyone else the open paint to drive like Dorka did being a perimeter threat. I've watched a lot of basketball this year maintain at Amari has the potential to give us the higher ceiling. The only other center with the right skill set to elevate us offensively IMO is Brink but that was never an option on the table.
 
Hist-teacher said:
Just happy Betts didn't land at Notre Dame! That was a distinct possibility and perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle that they're missing.
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Agree with this. That or Iowa. Both those programs I think would do more in the way of utilizing Betts than I think UCLA will so not sad she's out west.
 
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The transfer portal & NIL together is like free agency on steroids. It's become a joke really, considering the original intent of each.
 
One of the problems for Betts in playing for UCLA is they really don't have good outside shooting and Teams will play the South Carolina defense Pack it in and Let them shoot from the outside. She will be double and triple teamed. Close needs to find some 3 point shooters. Osborne and Rice are not the answer.
 
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jabstep said:
One of the problems for Betts in playing for UCLA is they really don't have good outside shooting and Teams will play the South Carolina defense Pack it in and Let them shoot from the outside. She will be double and triple teamed. Close needs to find some 3 point shooters. Osborne and Rice are not the answer.
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Agree, 100%. I watched UCLA a lot last year and their games were sloppy and ugly. It boggles my mind when coaches, year in, and year out, never have any shooters on their roster.
 
UCTitleTown said:
Not a great couple days for UConn hoops, Men's or Women's. Really wanted Betts.
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I think we’re better off not adding anyone. Geno already has the talent to make another run. Amari Jana Ayanna and Ice have all the motivation they need to become awesome in the backcourt they’ll be playing with.
 
Hailey Van Lith was in fact here in Baton Rouge and LSU is very well funded when it comes to NIL money. I think with Hailey Van Lith she may go to the highest bidder since she really doesn't have the size to make it big at the next level.

The comments about the coach of UCLA are kind of harsh considering she never did have the talent to compete until now. I thought her team did pretty good this year but they just didn't have any size to compete with that type of roster night in night out. I though that finally caught up to them more than coaching error.

As for UCONN they will have the horses needed next year to compete for a championship but Geno will need to figure out how to get something out of DeBerry. She is a player that could defend the less athletic taller girls in the post.
 
jabstep said:
One of the problems for Betts in playing for UCLA is they really don't have good outside shooting and Teams will play the South Carolina defense Pack it in and Let them shoot from the outside. She will be double and triple teamed. Close needs to find some 3 point shooters. Osborne and Rice are not the answer.
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Yeah they were pretty rough on the outside shooting.
 
UCLA has roster openings and is perceived as being a good & fun school to attend.
I suspect that UCLA will continue to build its roster enough to become strong contenders.
They compete for some of the same players that UConn does.
Win or lose they'll be in the hunt as a top 10 team, and I could see them replacing Stanford as a powerhouse on the national stage for a while.
That means that they'll attract even more talent, their arrow is pointing up & they'll become a team that UConn will need to beat.

Below is the UCLA scholarship chart with updates about transfers & recruits.

wbbblog.com

UCLA Women's Basketball Recruiting - WBB Blog

Recruiting summary for UCLA women's basketball, including a scholarship chart (projecting open spots for upcoming classes), commitments, and targets
wbbblog.com wbbblog.com
 
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Bone Dog said:
I think we’re better off not adding anyone. Geno already has the talent to make another run. Amari Jana Ayanna and Ice have all the motivation they need to become awesome in the backcourt they’ll be playing with.
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I agree, I think chemistry is the most important thing. Minutes are already going to be hard to come by
 
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