SiennaBetts

For the longest time, Sienna Betts was simply known as Lauren Betts' little sister. The elder Betts became a nationally known player as she went through the recruiting process and on to eventual stardom at Stanford and UCLA. But Sienna put her name on the national map starting in the eighth grade. “For me, it was growing up as the younger sister, and everyone always comparing us,” Betts told Gabby Alfveby. “I was just really competitive my whole life, and I always just wanted to be better than Lauren. I had a trainer, and I would train with him every day and we just got in the gym a lot. He really helped me not just on the basketball side but on the mental side, bringing up my confidence and making me believe it’s really possible to reach the level that I wanted to. In eighth grade, I trained a couple hours every single day, and then eventually, the work started really showing.” The focus showed so much that Betts would win her second Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year award after the 2023-2024 season – a campaign where she led the state regardless of classification in rebounding (16.3 rpg) and blocked shots (3.7 bpg) while averaging 21.6 points. She was also named a member of Team USA's FIBA U18 AmeriCup squad in the summer of 2024.