{"id":814227,"date":"2024-08-13T18:18:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T22:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=814227"},"modified":"2024-10-15T14:42:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T18:42:23","slug":"sienna-betts-251-wslam-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/251\/sienna-betts-251-wslam-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Sienna Betts: The No. 2 Player in the Class of 2025 Talks Accolades, Her Work Ethic and What’s to Come Next Year at UCLA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story appears in SLAM 251. Get your copy now.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how this story should start, Sienna Betts was a little taken aback as she prepared her answer. She emphasized how important one specific year was to her journey. In 7th grade, Betts decided to walk away from soccer and focus on her true passion for basketball. \u201cSomething switched, and I realized what I wanted to do,\u201d she says. The eagerness to be better pushed her to understand what was needed in order to be one of the greats. \u201cIf I want to succeed in basketball, I need to focus.\u201d It was a pivotal moment that would define the next year for her as she began training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All it took was for her to be in the right place with the right people. Sienna\u2019s trainer, Derek Griffin, saw potential in her at an early age, challenging her to see that her dream school, UCLA, was more than possible. \u201cHe made me realize what I could possibly become in the future and he brought me to that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, Betts would stay in the gym day in and day out, working on her game from every angle. As an 8th grader, she was practicing with Colorado royalty: Raegan Beers, Sam Crispe and, of course, her older sister Lauren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount of accolades Sienna and Lauren have brought to their home state is remarkable. At Grandview High School, they delivered two state championships and four Gatorade Player of the Year awards. With Lauren currently at UCLA and Sienna committed to the program, the future duo is bound to do incredible things together in Westwood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Sienna scout her own game? \u201cI would describe my game as versatile, high IQ, and specialized,\u201d she says. \u201cMy whole goal [in the game] is I don\u2019t care about my stats or anything like [that]. Whatever I can do for a win, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the development of her handles to her strong footwork, Sienna has found her rhythm and has yet to let up. The recipe for success has been to keep her feet planted in the moment and maintain her confidence\u2014because she has prepared for this. In a year\u2019s time, Sienna went from a role player off the bench to leading in every statistical category for the Hardwood Elite club team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the year Sienna went all-in on basketball, Michelle Betts, her mother, says, \u201cShe wanted to do it, so she did it.\u201d Painting the picture of that moment back in 7th grade, Michelle remembers Sienna saying, I don\u2019t want to just be the girl who goes in to play defense and blocks shots. I want to be a great player<\/em>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She became just that. \u201cAll of a sudden, all the things she said she wanted to do, she could do them and then some,\u201d Michelle says. \u201cShe went and grinded and became all the things she wanted to become, which I think is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outpouring of support for Sienna has fueled her. \u201cMy dad sends me a reminder text before every game,\u201d she says. His most recent text before the FIBA AmeriCup Championship was: Just run the floor, rebound, I love you so much. You\u2019re amazing.<\/em> The impact of the text was huge. \u201cI repeat this to get it in my head, and throughout the game and halftime, I repeat it to myself,\u201d Sienna says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a gold medalist, two-time Gatorade Player of the Year and state champion, the 7th grader who made the decision to take basketball seriously and is now the top post player in the country is simply \u201cjust playing my game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked to be here,\u201d Betts says. \u201cI should have confidence in what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Portraits via Garrett Ellwood.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story appears in SLAM 251. Get your copy now. When asked how this story should start, Sienna Betts was a little taken aback as she prepared her answer. She emphasized how important one specific year was to her journey. In 7th grade, Betts decided to walk away from soccer and focus on her true […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":515,"featured_media":814245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65257],"tags":[62525,65266,65258,63499,63726],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-814227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-65257","tag-feature-1","tag-sienna-betts","tag-slam-251","tag-ucla","tag-wslam"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/515"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820020,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814227\/revisions\/820020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814227"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=814227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}