Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice needed about 12 takes to nail that AT&T commercial. Michelle Betts, who was on the set — a rented house in Los Angeles, in this case — at the time, kept a mental count as she watched from behind the cameras.
“Lauren and Kiki, they had it perfect the first time,” Betts, mother of the former Grandview stalwart and current UCLA star, recalled to me in advance of Lauren leading her Bruins into the NCAA women’s hoops Final Four on Friday. “The timing of the people popping up behind them in the window, they were struggling to figure out ways to make that part work. It was a huge production. There must have been 100 (on the crew) there in and outside the house.”
Michelle knew in mid-February, the day of the AT&T shoot, that her kiddo had hit the big time. Mind you, it didn’t quite blow her mind when they dropped Mom off at a parochial school that had been converted into a Hollywood backlot. Or when she saw pavement covered up by the kind of trailers you’d see in Apple TV’s “The Studio.”
A few steps later, though, one image finally did. It was when Michelle walked up to one of those white superstar trailers, only to find a sign on the front that read, “MISS LAUREN BETTS.”
Ka-blooey. Complete, total ka-blooey.
“I was like, ‘What the (heck) is this kid’s life right now?'” Michelle laughed.
Once Mom got through the door, she noticed a hair stylist and a makeup artist in one corner of the trailer, while a spread of catered food lined another.
“Who the (heck) are you?” an incredulous Michelle asked her daughter.
“I know,” Lauren replied. “Can you believe this?”
Believe it. Betts, whose 34-2 Bruins meet 35-3 UConn in the second national semifinal Friday in Tampa, is fast joining the Lakers’ Luka Doncic as one of the freshest new faces in the L.A. hoops scene.
The 6-foot-7 center scored 17 points, pulled down seven boards and blocked six shots in a 72-65 win over LSU in the regional final, avenging a Sweet 16 loss to those same Tigers in Albany at this time a year ago.
The younger Betts, a first-team AP All-American and Naismith/WBCA Defensive Player of the Year, stormed the Big Dance, averaging 23 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.5 blocks through four NCAA tourney appearances.
In fact, Lauren’s inaugural run through the Big Ten was so dominant, and seen by so many more eyeballs than previous seasons at Stanford and UCLA (thanks, Pac-12 Network!), that draftniks figured Betts would be a sure-fire top 5 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft — if she chose to forgo her senior season.
Spoiler alert: She won’t.
One of the reasons, Mom says, is the opportunity to play with little sister Sienna, a UCLA commit, next fall. Another is the fact that the Bruins, loaded as they are, could be even better next season. And there are her current Name/Image/Likeness partnerships: In addition to the campaign with AT&T, Betts has deals with Under Armour, C4 Energy, JLab, The Den, HighlightHER, Bumble and Grandeur Models.
Lauren and Sienna’s marketing is being handled by the heavy hitters at William Morris Endeavor. The agency’s clientele are so permeated into pop culture that most of Denver probably owns a record, movie or book produced by somebody with WME ties.
“I thought it was hilarious that people thought Lauren was going to enter the draft early,” Michelle said. “I really didn’t get it. She had no reason to go early, and it never crossed her mind to go into the draft as a junior.”
Between Sienna’s winning MVP honors at the McDonald’s All-American game in New York and Lauren cruising through postseason tourneys, Mom’s spent the last few weeks zipping through DIA terminals. She cracked that balloons from the celebrations over Sienna’s state title with Grandview last month are still floating around her place.
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) reacts during the first half of a game against LSU in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
“I feel like I’ve barely been here,” Michelle laughed. “I have decorations I still have to put away.”
And while Lauren may be the new Toast of Tinseltown, her ceiling is still a Mile High. Mama Betts figures she’s caught her daughter’s AT&T commercial by now in Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Spokane — and all points in between.
But probably the favorite time it popped up for her was last weekend at a hotel bar in Brooklyn, while watching Lauren and Kiki knock off LSU on her smart phone. Mom, who’d just flown all the way from Washington state to the Big Apple, fist-pumped her way to a catbird seat on Cloud 9. Who says fairy tales can’t have sequels?
“Welcome,” Michelle laughed, “to Hollywood.”
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