From NCAA star to WNBA rookie in 15 days flat
Exactly 15 days ago, Lauren Betts knelt at center court of Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, her face buried in her hands as confetti tumbled from above. The 6-foot-7 senior, a star clad in white, blue and gold, had just captured a national championship. Exactly 15 days later, as the Washington Mystics gathered for media day at CareFirst Arena on Monday, Betts donned a new red and white uniform, starring in an entirely different role: WNBA rookie.
Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Betts, 22, starred in March Madness, helping lead UCLA to its first NCAA tournament title. Eight days later, she was the first of a record six Bruins to be selected in one WNBA draft when the Mystics took her fourth overall.
“I feel like I haven’t really breathed since I left UCLA, so to be here is pretty unbelievable,” Betts said Monday. “[I’m] taking it day by day and just trying to breathe and stay present. ” Betts’s breathless start typifies a tough reality for WNBA rookies.
While first-year players in the NBA have months to prepare, the WNBA draft comes almost immediately after the end of college basketball season, and the pro season starts a few weeks later. That means most of the league’s rookies are thrust into new cities, new teams and new schemes basically overnight. The Mystics began practicing Sunday, marking the start of the team’s second year under Coach Sydney Johnson.
Their first game is May 8 against the first-year Toronto Tempo. “It’s a young group, [but] that shouldn’t throw people off,” Johnson said. “Whoever is on our roster, our commitment is full-out player development for everybody.
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