SPOKANE, WA. – Somewhere in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday night, a high school basketball coach was glued to his TV. Grandview’s Josh Ulitzky has won over 400 games and five state titles. He graduated from Northern Colorado, but along the way, he became a UCLA fan. That’s because of the 12 Division I players he has coached, two have ended up at UCLA with a third on the way.
On Friday, he watched as Lauren Betts led the Bruins to a 76-62 win over Ole Miss and their first Elite Eight since 2018. Back then he was watching too, because another Grandview graduate, Michaela Onyenwere, was a freshman helping the Bruins advance out of the Sweet 16. Ulitzky will stay locked in on UCLA for the next four seasons as well, when Sienna Betts heads to Westwood.
“Thank goodness for geography and for siblings,” Ulitzky said with a laugh. “Because it has allowed me to coach some great kids. I’ve been incredibly fortunate.”
Much of UCLA’s past, current and future success is intertwined with Grandview. This season, Ulitzky hopes the programs continue to be reflections of one another. Sienna Betts just led the Wolves to a Colorado state title. Ulitzky wants to see Lauren Betts bring a championship to UCLA.
“That would be great,” he said. “Michaela won a title at Grandview as a senior, Lauren won as a senior and Sienna won three (titles). I think that experience in college is something completely different, but it would be so amazing for everyone connected to that program.”
UCLA certainly has its eyes on an NCAA title. Defeating Ole Miss and reaching the Elite Eight, something that alluded the Bruins in 2023 and 2024, was the first step. Last year the Bruins’ run ended against LSU and before that it was South Carolina that sent them home, both in the Sweet 16. On Friday, UCLA had to get through another SEC team.
“That feeling of coming out here the last two times and not having won really is, like, a sour taste in all our mouths,” junior guard Kiki Rice said before the game. “So I think there is extra competitiveness and energy that we’ll play with because we don’t want to have that same feeling again.”
The outcome was different this time. So was the feeling.
“We expected to be here,” Rice said. “We are obviously glad we have the opportunity to play again and play on Sunday, but we expected to be in this position. It will be a good opportunity for all of us that were on the team last year because LSU is the team that knocked us out.”
Step one, taken. Step two, Sunday’s regional final against LSU.
There have been off-the-court steps, too. Coach Cori Close and her staff have meticulously crafted the roster. The Bruins brought in the country’s top recruiting class in 2021, led by Rice, the No. 2 player in her class. The next season they landed the 6-foot-7 Betts out of the transfer portal and this year they added Janiah Barker and Timea Gardner, two other highly-sought after transfers.
No one is more crucial to the team’s success than Betts, a National Player of the Year candidate. The center is averaging 19.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. In the win against Ole Miss, Betts was as dominant as ever, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting, while grabbing 10 rebounds and recording three blocks. After defeating Richmond in the round of 32 and Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen, Betts became the first DI player to have 30 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the field in back-to-back games in the last 20 seasons. It’s one more eye-popping stat on a long list of accomplishments for the junior.
“That’s insane,” Betts said with a laugh. “I’m just obviously very grateful and, honestly, the only reason any of that is happening is because of the program that I’m in and the people that I’m surrounded by and these coaches that believe in me. That’s the reason why I play the way I play.”
Betts spent her freshman season at Stanford, but when she decided to transfer, Ulitzky knew UCLA would be the perfect fit, just like it was for Onyenwere and will be for Sienna.
“I knew it was a phenomenal place for each of them in each of their situations,” Ulitzky said. “The staff is phenomenal. They’re always so gracious. I feel really good sending players there because I know they will be cared for as people while also developing as basketball players.”
And as the coaching staff develops their players, those players develop the program. After her team’s loss to the Bruins, Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, reflected on UCLA’s steady rise. McPhee-McCuin’s team played in its second Sweet Sixteen in three seasons, while UCLA played in its third in as many years. On the third try, UCLA finally made it to the Elite Eight, and according to McPhee-McCuin, it’s because of the talent they were able to get in the transfer portal. She wants Ole Miss to take the same path.
“The next step is to get someone like Janiah Barker, someone like Lauren Betts out of the portal,” she said. “Because that’s what Cori Close did and now they are going to the Elite Eight.”
Close was able to land Betts because of the work she did with Onyenwere from 2017-2021, the impression she made on Ulitzky and the relationship she built with Betts during her initial recruitment, even though she ended up choosing Stanford. Those were all steps on the path to this moment. And now, Betts has the chance to build on what Onyenwere did during her time as a Bruin.
“I look up to her so much,” Betts said. “So to be where she was at, it is such a huge accomplishment for me and this team. We’ve worked so hard to get here, and I’m just so proud of the selflessness.”
Onyenwere took steps so Betts could take hers and the Bruins could take theirs. On Sunday, UCLA will look to put one foot in front of the other, building on years of momentum in the hopes of walking into a Final Four. That’s one step no Bruin has taken before.
