LAUREN BETTS IS THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE USA UNDER 19 FIBA WORLD CUP BASKETBALL TEAM!!

From August 7th to the 15th we were provided a glimpse into Stanford women's basketball future. The FIBA U19 women's basketball World Cup tournament was played in Hungary. You can still see some of the games on YouTube. 

Lauren Betts is 17 years old and 6'-7". She was the youngest player on the USA team, the number one ranked recruit in the 2022 Class, and as you know, she's committed to Stanford. The team had five post players, but two got 90% of the minutes - Lauren Ware, who will be a sophomore at Arizona next month and Lauren Betts, who will be a senior in high school. 

Sania Feagin got some playing time and is entering South Carolina as a freshman top five recruit. Amari DeBerry, also a top five recruit is entering UConn, and Jersey Wolfenbarger, a seventh ranked recruit that has signed with Arkansas, got into games once they were safely in the "win" column. The USA won all six of their games in the tournament, and beat Australia in the gold medal game 70 to 52.    

The level of competition was obviously challenging for Lauren.  Grandview High School in Centennial, Colorado doesn't play national teams like our U19 team faced last week - Australia, Italy, Russia, France, Canada, etc. In the first game she had 17 points and 15 rebounds in about twenty-five minutes. So, she's pretty good, even when she's playing against 19 and 20 year old college women. The age limit is nineteen or younger on January 1, 2021. Te'Hine Paopao, the US starting point guard, will be a junior at Oregon in September. That's a stretch for a girl like Lauren Betts, who just finished her junior year in high school.

As you would expect, her game shows room for improvement, but in her case it's called incredible upside potential! It will be interesting to watch her development during her senior season and the 2022 off-season. I get the feeling she's focused and motivated. 

She plays AAU basketball for the same team that Ashton played for - coached by ex-NBA All Star and versatile big man - Keith Van Horn. He's constantly pushing Lauren to new limits and already has her working hard on her perimeter shooting, dribbling, and passing - when she's not perfecting her moves in the paint. Lauren's dad has been her greatest source of inspiration to become a player. Andrew is 7'-1" and played for Long Beach State and professionally in Europe. 

She has friends on the Cardinal team in Fran Belibi and Jana VanGytenbeek, who come from the same area of Colorado. In fact, Jana's high school, Cherry Creek, and Lauren's high school, Grandview, could be battling next season for the state championship.

See what I mean, when in numerous blog pieces I've said the magnetic poles in the women's NCAA basketball world are reversing from the east coast to the west coast? All the powerhouse teams were recruiting Lauren Betts for all they were worth - UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Louisville - but she chose Stanford before she'd even set foot on the campus. The best new coaches are coming to the PAC12 - and so are many of the best players.

In the 2022 Recruiting Class, as I mentioned above, Lauren Betts is ranked number one. Six of the top eleven ranked players are committed to PAC12 schools and three haven't committed yet. So six of the eight, who have signed, are coming to the PAC12. The tectonic plates of the WBB world of the NCAA are definitely tilting toward the west coast.

An interesting side note: the number one recruit in the nation for 2021, Azzi Fudd, who has signed with UConn, did not shine in Hungary. She started every game, played sound defense, made numerous turnovers, and was passive on offense. Caitlin Clark (Iowa) was the tournament MVP and Sonia Citron (Notre Dame) was named, along with Clark, to the All Tournament team. Lauren Betts, Payton Verhulst (Louisville), and Diamond Johnson (N.C. State) were standout players, as was Paopao (Oregon). 

If I was Geno - I'd be pondering several questions: Alright we got Fudd, but how did we miss out on Clark, Citron, and Verhulst? And Betts!! Yee Gads, she's going to make my life miserable until 2026!!      

LET'S GO STANFORD!!