By Clarice Burger
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Lauren Marie Betts (born October 15, 2003) is a Spanish-born British-American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins of the Big Ten Conference. She played for Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado, where she was ranked as the number one recruit in her class by ESPN. Betts started her college career with the Stanford Cardinal before transferring to UCLA after one season.
Betts was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, and moved around the country during her childhood due to the basketball career of her father, Andrew. When she was in third grade, her family settled in the United States. Before focusing on basketball, Betts was involved in dance, swimming and soccer. She played for Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado. As a freshman, Betts averaged 12.7 points, 8.6 boards and 3.9 blocks per game for the Class 5A runners-up. In her sophomore season, she averaged 17.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, leading her team back to the state title game, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Betts averaged 17.5 points and 11 rebounds per game as a junior, helping Grandview achieve a 17–1 record and reach the Class 5A semifinals. She was named Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year. Betts led her team to the Class 5A state championship in her senior season. She averaged 17.2 points, 11 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, winning Women’s Basketball Coaches Association High School Player of the Year and repeating as Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year. She also played in both the McDonald’s All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic.
Betts was considered a five-star recruit and the number one player in the 2022 class by ESPN. On January 13, 2021, she committed to playing college basketball for Stanford over offers from Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, UConn and South Carolina.
The Bruins had a strong season IN 2024-25 and were ranked number one in the nation after defeating defending champion South Carolina during the regular season. Betts led the Bruins to their First Big Ten Tournament Championship and First 30 wins in a season. Betts was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team and was the most outstanding player of the tournament. Betts was named as both an AP and a USBWA First Team All–American. She was named one of four finalists for the Naismith Women’s Player of the Year, and was named the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year. She was named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s All-America team. She was the Lisa Leslie Center of The Year. Betts helped the Bruins reach the 2025 Final Four, and was named to the NCAA WBB Final Four all-tournament team.
Betts was born to Andrew and Michelle Betts. Andrew Betts was a Centre for the Great Britain/England national teams who played for several leading European clubs and was drafted by the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Her mother, Michelle, played volleyball for Long Beach State; winning a national title in 1998. She has a sister, Sienna, and two brothers, Dylan and Ashton. In 2025, she appeared in the 10th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars as a guest who received a makeover as part of a weekly challenge.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Out of the several types of melons that are cultivated, these come from two different melon groups of Cucumis melo.
A true cantaloupe is a member of the Cantalupensis Group, named for Cantalupo, a former papal villa near Rome. This group is usually characterized by a rough, warty, hard rind and sweet orange flesh. These melons are mostly grown in Europe and Asia, and seldom grown in North America.
In the United States, what is called a “cantaloupe” is usually a muskmelon, which is a member of the Reticulatus Group and characterized by a netlike ribbed rind and sweet, fragrant orange flesh.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Friedrich Nietzsche (philosopher) –
- P. G. Wodehouse (author, humorist) –
- C.P. Snow (novelist) –
- Lee Iacocca (businessman) –
- Linda Lavin (actress) –
- Penny Marshall (actress & director) –
- Jim Palmer (baseball player) –
- Richard Carpenter (musician) –
- Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York) –
- Emeril Lagasse (chef) –
- Lauren Betts (basketball player) –
Died
- Clara Kimball Young (actress) –
- Cole Porter (composer) –
- Edie Adams (actress & singer) –
- Dorcas Reilly (inventor of Campbell’s green bean casserole; died in Haddonfield, N.J.) –
- Suzanne Somers (actress) –
Events
- First day of conversion to Gregorian calendar from Julian for several countries (Poland, Spain, Italy, Portugal), due to Pope Gregory XIII’s decree. Great Britain and colonies did not convert until 1752 –
- First U.S. Agriculture Bureau scientific publication issued –
- Edison Electric Light Company established –
- American Angler, the first fishing magazine in the U.S., was published in Philadelphia, PA –
- Symphony Hall in Boston was inaugurated as the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra –
- Mata Hari, one of history’s most famous spies, was executed –
- Statue of Liberty designated as a National Monument –
- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill creating the Department of Transportation –
- An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale shook southern California –
- Veterans Memorial Bridge opened, Port Arthur-Bridge City, Texas –
- Andy Green became the first person to break the sound barrier in a land-based vehicle, at 763.035 mph –
- A pine cone collected by Steve Schwarz of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, is confirmed as the world’s largest at 22.9 inches (58.2 cm). –
- China launched its first manned space mission becoming the third country in history to send a person into orbit — four decades after the Soviet Union and the United States –
- In New York, the Staten Island ferry plowed into a pier killing 10 people and injuring 42 more –
- A magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred near Kailua-Kona on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii –
Weather
- Hurricane Hazel hit the Carolinas –
- Hazel II storm flooded Toronto –
- Hurricane Hazel struck southern Ontario –
- 15.88 inches of rain fell in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
