The Joker
Donovan Dent is the wildcard that can help the Bruins win any hand.
The senior guard averaged 20.4 points and 6.4 assists per game at New Mexico last year, earning him Mountain West Player of the Year and an AP All-American honorable mention.
Dent led the Lobos to a Mountain West championship appearance and NCAA Tournament berth by shooting 49% from the field and 40.9% from beyond the arc.
The No. 3 ranked transfer from this offseason’s portal has already displayed his potential in Westwood, leading the team in scoring against San Diego State on Oct. 17 and combining for 34 points across UCLA’s two exhibition games.
Dent’s varied offensive approach — prioritizing the transition, attacking downhill, hitting catch and shoot 3-pointers, drawing fouls and shooting floaters and short jumpers around the basket — has not only lit up the scoreboards but has also helped open up opportunities for his teammates.
Combine his three-level scoring with his off-the-ball movement, speed and play-making ability, and Dent helps the Bruin stack the deck against opponents.
The Riverside local notched eight assists and just one turnover against UC Irvine in UCLA’s second scrimmage. With the talent surrounding him, Dent has the ability to not only lead the team in scoring but also bring multiple players into double digits alongside him.
The move to get Dent proved coach Mick Cronin is all in.
And if Dent is in your hand, a bluff is unlikely.
Royal Flush
It’s almost impossible to have a bad hand when playing with the Bruins.
No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close wields a roster with some of the nation’s top recruits. Pair that with the talented seniors at the helm of the program’s first Final Four appearance last spring, and UCLA is hot.
Senior center Lauren Betts may headline the group as the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. But at the core of the Bruins’ roster are senior guards Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice, the only remaining members of Close’s 2022 recruiting class.
If there is anyone who wants to see UCLA hoisting a national trophy more than anything, it is those two, who enter final years on the team. Both embody a selfless mindset on the court – Rice led the team 170 assists last year and Jaquez averaged 5.3 rebounds per game last season.
The pair’s ability to facilitate the ball and set up their teammates could prove even more valuable this year with sharp shooters and graduate student guards Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker making their debut as Bruins. Kneepkens boasted an impressive 44.8% clip from beyond the arc her last year at Utah and Leger-Walker’s 1,743 points at Washington State rank third in program history.
UCLA isn’t just veteran talent though, and freshman forward Sienna Betts leads the way with her fresh energy. The McDonald All-American averaged 23 points per game her senior year of high school and arrived in Westwood as the No. 2 freshman talent in the nation.
Something Sienna and Lauren Betts, Jacquez, Kneepkens, Leger-Walker and Rice all have in common besides the school they represent? Every single one was named to the Naismith Preseason Watch List for their respective position group.
Whatever way you arrange the Bruins’ lineup, you come up with all high cards. And with seven of the UCLA’s 12 rostered members in their final eligibility, Close has no choice but to go all in.
Double Down
While the shiny new transfers and freshmen recruits usually garner the offseason attention, it’s the returners that turn a good team into a great one.
The Bruins are bringing back three of their starters from last year — all of whom ranked among the team’s top five scorers.
Senior guard Skyy Clark will join Dent to make one of the most formidable back courts in the nation. He has the offensive capability to lead the team in scoring while running the offense through him.
But more importantly, he embodies what Cronin wants out of his teams — defensive pressure and tenacious man-to-man defense. Clark can take the opposing team’s best guard while giving Dent, a capable defender, the time and energy to focus on the offense.
Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau led the team in scoring last season at 13.5 points per game on a 40% clip from beyond the arc.
Bilodeau’s move to the power forward spot combined with the presence of Dent should not only reduce his defensive responsibilities but also increase his offensive efficiency.
Dent’s offensive prowess will distill the defensive pressure aimed toward Bilodeau, allowing for less help defense and more one-on-one pressure. Moreover, Dent’s passing ability should allow Bilodeau to get looks he otherwise wouldn’t have.
Junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. came behind Bilodeau in scoring last season while providing serviceable contributions to the teams rebounding efforts.
Standing at 6-foot-8, Dailey gives Cronin’s lineup the flexibility to go big by utilizing his size from the three spot or go small where he can use his speed to match opposing offenses and size to take advantage of the glass.
Pocket Rockets
Sienna and Lauren Betts are each aces in their own right.
The younger sister is a two-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year, with 27 double-doubles in 28 games during her senior year of high school. She has earned two gold medals at the FIBA level with Team USA and was named to the preseason watchlist for the 2026 Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award as the only freshman on the list.
And the older Betts’ prowess in Westwood is no secret. She is the highest ranked professional prospect out of UCLA in program history – in her junior campaign she ranked second in the nation for total field goals with 294 and fifth for total blocks with 100.
Together, the Betts sisters are poised to be a lethal duo. While most freshmen face the challenge of integrating into a new offensive system and building chemistry with returners, Sienna already has an innate connection with Lauren, who she has been playing with since she could hold a ball.
The last time they played together, Sienna averaged 10.4 points per game while Lauren contributed 17.2 points of her own per contest en route to leading Grandview High School to a state championship in 2022.
The Bruins have reiterated during practice leading up to their season opener what their goal for the year is: to win the national championship. And the desire and drive to be the best that the Betts siblings have displayed across their careers could be UCLA’s key to doing just that.
With Sienna as a power forward and Lauren as the Bruin’s go-to center, the Betts won’t be competing against each other for playing time. Instead, they have the opportunity to combine their offensive strength in the paint and dominate the glass.
Sienna won’t appear in the team’s season opener due to a lower leg injury, but when she returns to the court for the first time as a Bruin, all eyes will be on the sisters’ chemistry.
Semi-bluff
If there’s anything that could swing the deck the opposite way, it’s the Bruins’ center.
Even last season – when former Bruins Aday Mara and William Kyle III were on the squad – the Bruins struggled against more prototypical big men, evidenced by 36- and 29-point performances from Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, respectively.
This season, Bilodeau’s move to the permanent four spot opens up two spaces at the center position, both which are occupied by players new to Westwood – forward/center duo junior Xavier Booker and redshirt senior Steven Jamerson II.
Booker – a former five-star prospect and Michigan State transfer – has all of the makings of a Unicorn-like big man. Booker has the lateral speed and quickness to defend and attack from the arc to the basket, and standing at 6-foot-11, he has the height to contend in the paint.
However, he may lack the strength and attributes typical of a traditional center to dominate in the post, grab rebounds and defend man-to-man around the rim.
Conversely, Jamerson possesses game sense around the basket, strength and size to clear out the paint and dominate the interior – evidenced by averaging 10 points per game on a 50% clip from the field last season at San Diego.
Although, through both scrimmages, the redshirt senior has combined for just five points on a 33% shooting percentage from the field.
In a lineup that looks to contend with the upper echelons of college basketball, the Bruins five spot is filled with uncertainty.
And it may take several games – or Bilodeau moving back to the five spot – to figure out if UCLA has the winning hand.
Hot Hand
The 50-40-90 club is an elite – and sparse – group.
And rightfully so.
To shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from the perimeter and 90% from the charity stripe, a player must remain disciplined at all times.
No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and former UConn guard Paige Bueckers is one of the select few college players to achieve the feat. But UCLA may have just picked up one of its own.
Kneepkens ended her senior campaign at Utah boasting 50.4% from the field, 44.8% from beyond the arc and 89% from the free throw line – placing her just a hair away from meeting the admittance standards for the elite club, which she frequented for a good part of her senior year.
Excluding her junior year, when she suffered a season-ending injury early in the season, Kneepkens increased her averages in almost every major statistical category every year. And considering the Duluth, Minnesota, local is one of the first players to station herself in front of a hoop and hit reps from the free throw line after practice ends, there is little doubt she will continue to boost her shooting percentages in every facet of the game.
The swish of a ball off Kneepkens’ fingertips always seems to come off as calm and collected. At the Bruins’ professional scouting day Thursday, a WNBA team representative could be overheard in the stands saying what everyone was thinking, “She’s so smooth.”
UCLA went 4-for-16 in 3-pointers during its Final Four loss to UConn. But with Kneepken’s hot hand, the Bruins may now have the advantage they need to make it to the final straights.
