The stars aligned for one year for the three best players in Grandview High School history to share the ultimate success together.
The “Grandview connection” of former Wolves stars Michaela Onyenwere, Lauren Betts and Sienna Betts were all part of the UCLA women’s basketball team that captured the national championship with a blowout win over South Carolina April 5.
Onyenwere — who first put Grandview on the map nationally — served as an assistant coach and got to lend a hand to her fellow alums in uniform as they won a national title.
“I’ve had a full circle moment every single day watching Lauren and Sienna; they are so grown up now and I’ve known them since they were 10 or 11 coming to watch our games,” Onyenwere told the Sentinel. “It was super cool and super rewarding. I love UCLA so much and to be part of a group of women — including Lauren and Sienna —who committed themselves to this goal and got it done, it’s just an honor.”
Onyenwere paved the way for coach Josh Ulitzky’s Grandview program, as she helped lead the program to its first state championship in 2017. During her remarkable career, she was a three-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017) and a McDonald’s All-American before she committed to UCLA.
Onyenwere put herself in the top five on the program’s all-time scoring list and got drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft, which was the start of what is a professional career that is now five seasons long and counting.
With uncommon time in the offseason this year, UCLA head coach Cori Close came to Onyenwere with an offer to join the staff, which still includes several coaches that were around when she played on the team. It wasn’t an automatic acceptance, but Onyenwere eventually came around to the idea of being part of a program she loves that made the Final Four last year.
“I told myself I was never going to coach, but after I took a step back, I thought I’d just try it,” said Onyenwere, who had decided not to play abroad either as she had done in the past. “It didn’t mean I had to do it forever and this seemed like a very special year. Getting to coach Lauren and Sienna, having the opportunity to live in L.A. again and do strength and conditioning seemed like the perfect match.
“It’s truly God’s timing and for it to end this way was amazing.”
How it ended was with a national championship fueled by a hungry group of seniors that included 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts, who was the next star player to go through Grandview after Onyenwere.
A two-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year and McDonald’s All-American herself, she was the top recruit in the nation in the Class of 2022. Betts won a state championship with Grandview in her younger sister’s freshman season — and might have had another had the 2020 state title game not been canceled by the coronavirus pandemic after the Wolves had earned a matchup with rival Cherry Creek — and then signed with Stanford.
Her time with the Cardinal was challenging and it caused Betts to look elsewhere and she ended up at UCLA. In the last of her three seasons with the Bruins, Betts earned Most Outstanding Player in the national tournament. She had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the title-clinching victory and that came after a key blocked shot late to seal a semifinal win over Texas.
Sienna Betts — a three-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2025 — finished her prep career as Colorado’s all-time leading prep rebounder (male or female). She won three state titles in four seasons at Grandview and then immediately got a national championship in her first season with a college program she committed to back in 2023.
Ulitzky coached Onyenwere and both Betts for their entire prep careers and he just basked in the glow of their immense achievement.
“It’s so cool and I’m so grateful to know them all,” Ulitzky said. “I’m just happy for them overall and especially that they got to experience this together.”
Ulitzky did not get to attend UCLA’s Final Four game in Phoenix (a win over Texas) or the championship game, but he and former assistant Robert Dennis did get to see the Bruins play in their regional, where they defeated Minnesota in the Sweet 16 and Duke in the Elite Eight. He had also been able to watch another former Grandview star — Addison O’Grady — play in the same round with Iowa a few years ago.
At a postgame press conference following the win over Duke, Lauren Betts was asked about Ulitzky and Dennis.
“That’s my head coach from high school, Coach Josh, and then Coach Dennis was my assistant coach,” she said. “Sienna and I both won state championships with both of them and they’re my family, so I wanted to make sure they were on the court and got to celebrate with us. They coached Michaeala as well, so it was the Grandview connection.
“I thought it was really special to have them with me.”
More good things lie ahead for the trio, as Onyenwere is poised to sign a free agent contract with a new WNBA team, Lauren Betts is a likely top-10 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft and Sienna Betts will be one of the centerpieces of a title defense.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
