Lauren Betts is headed to the WNBA.
The Washington Mystics selected the Centennial, Colorado, native with the No. 4 overall pick in Monday night’s 2026 WNBA Draft, held in New York.
Betts, a 6-foot-7 center, leaves UCLA as one of the most decorated players in program history. She led the Bruins to their first-ever national championship this season and was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after averaging 21 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.8 blocks across six tournament games — shooting a blistering 68.8 percent from the field.
A Grandview High School product out of Aurora, Betts became the first player from Colorado to earn the women’s NCAA Tournament MOP award. She was a two-time AP All-America First Team selection, a two-time Lisa Leslie Award winner as the nation’s top center, was named Big Ten Player of the Year and took home Defensive Player of the Year this season while averaging 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.
In Washington, Betts will be tasked with anchoring the Mystics’a alongside Shakira Austin’s and last year’s top pick Sonia Citron.
The Mystics, who narrowly missed the playoffs in 2025, held three first-round picks in Monday’s draft as they look to accelerate their rebuild. One of those picks were used on Bruins’ teammate Angela Dugalic.
Betts starred at Grandview, where she led the Wolves to a Class 5A state title as a senior as the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year before initially committing to Stanford and later transferring to UCLA. Her sister, Sienna is a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year, who also featured on that UCLA title-winner.
