Sienna Betts is one of the top freshman in women’s college basketball. She will play alongside her big sister, Lauren Betts, at UCLA.
They are both of mixed race.
Although ethnicity does not play a role in the outlook for the Bruins for this upcoming women’s college basketball season, the younger of the two Betts sisters felt it was important to clarify her background after a two-fold dialogue throughout the week. It is a shame that it reached this point.
Who is Sienna Betts?
Betts was ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the recruiting Class of 2025 as a five-star prospect. She averaged an astonishing 23.5 points, 16.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.4 blocks per game as a senior, which led her to be named as the Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year for the third consecutive year.
The Spanish-born, Centennial State-native was also named as the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year and the MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game. Betts scored 16 points with seven rebounds and two assists against the best players in the country.
Although the 6-foot-4 forward could’ve played anywhere in the country, she chose to join her big sister in Westwood. Sienna Betts committed to play at UCLA over offers from South Carolina, Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, UConn, Oregon, Arizona and Michigan.
The Bruins already began their 2025-26 campaign but their star freshman will miss a few games due to an undisclosed leg injury. A timeline for her return has yet to be announced, though it shouldn’t be too long.
The Betts sisters are biracial.
There are two different sides to this conversation about race and UCLA women’s basketball. Part of the discussion stems from the following photo:
Uninformed fans of other programs were very quick to point out the “lack of melanin” in the photo. They made a number of inappropriate remarks regarding the “whiteness” of the Bruins’ roster and their inability to win games due to race. It unfortunately became the predominant talking point.
The second part of the dialogue surrounding UCLA women’s basketball and race is also two-fold.
Lauren Betts and her little sister did a photoshoot for Slam Magazine. They are both on the cover.
However, Slam also posted the following image of Sienna Betts to promote its cover story:
The dialogue very quickly turned racist and got out of hand. Ignorant commenters questioned why she wore black face. Others mocked her for using too much bronzer. Things like that.
People were not only uninformed, but entirely out of line. It unfortunately reached the point that Betts felt the need to set the record straight.
“Reminder I am mixed,” Sienna Betts posted on Instagram.
Betts’ father, Andrew, is white. He was actually drafted into the NBA and played professional basketball overseas— which is why his two daughters were born in spain.
Betts’ mother, Michelle, is Black. She played volleyball at Long Beach State and won a national title.
There are also two Betts brothers, Dylan and Ashton. They, like Lauren and Sienna, are also of mixed race. Because that’s how that works. The whole family, outside of the patriarch, is biracial.
That settles that. Move along.