Excellent breakdown of the situation and the result. As a college AD, I am especially thankful for your clarity as we have such a culture to run to judgement. It is so clear in this case that the coach has built a relationship with her player both on and off the court and that allows her to bring that level of intensity to the situation and have it so well received by her athlete.
The love I possess for March Madness can't be matched by anything else. It has been since last year that I have watched it and listened to almost very bit of pre and post game interviews of coaches & players and I am like the relationship, the bond, the rapport each and every player build and the bond shared by coaches with players is best thing I can listen to 7 witness.
Coaches treat their players more better than people treat in their bloodline for sure.
Coaches can make or break team. That goes for Gregg Popovich, that goes for Coach K, Steve Kerr, Tara VanDerveer, Dawn Staley, Kara Lawson, Geno Auriemma, Patrick Sang and other thousands of coaches in any walk of life.
Sticking to fundamentals, being authentic and flexible, putting in consistent work for years on end yields good results.
Take for example this.
Two years before she was named “Most Outstanding Player” of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Lauren Betts was lying on a gurney in a psychiatric ward.
At 6 ft 7” and the No. 1 ranked recruit in her class, Lauren was a starter for one of the best women’s basketball programs in the country. From the outside, she was thriving. On the inside, she was suffering.
In a deeply personal essay published in The Players’ Tribune in March 2026, a few weeks before she led UCLA to its first-ever national championship, Betts described the morning her depression finally broke through every defense she had built: “I don’t want to do this anymore.” She called the team trainer and she checked herself in to the psychiatric ward.
“On the outside, she appeared beautiful, talented, and successful. But on the inside, it didn’t match.” - UCLA Head Coach Cori Close
I don't know but players/athletes are some focused that they have to deal with Identity Foreclosure at some point of time in their lives or it can be multiple times for some as well.
When one is playing at the highest level or be it Sophomore as well, they are entirely focused on how to be the best version of themselves. From the time they wake up- they need to do take are of the diet before the workouts, then go for the workout, strength & conditioning in the gym, rest and then do some of it in the evening and very next day appears. This is the routine of any basketball player which they keep on doing it for months which turn to years and the ultimate goal is to win the NCAA Championship once if not multiple times.
How can one jump off from this box, it is quite difficult for anyone to broaden the aperture and put off the blinders for once. But blinders are quite helpful as in today's world, the algo can easily waver us off the Task in hand and can distract & steal our effort in the moment.
But the way Lauren Betts cam through all of this is great to see and behind every of this story there are n number of people whose support was the reason one could do wonders.
I have understood Psychological Safety in any team, organization, family set up or be it anywhere is the foremost thing to thrive in life.
It was because of her mother & coach Close that got her back told her to be vulnerable and be herself with whatever she feels. It is quite difficult to talk about mental health socially because people are quite fast to tear you apart but when you are supported by people around you, you are not filled with fear as you know you have a safety net even if you fall.
You articulate this perfectly. I often spend multiple sessions with clients breaking down the voices that motivate or demotivate them and understanding the specific scenarios when that happens. Once an athlete has a level of awareness of that, they gain a significant amount of control over the outcome.
I left a comment earlier and deleted it after digging into it a bit more and watching Oluchi talk to the press after - The relationship here is so key. Oluchi Okananwa knows that coach believes in her - I do get a bit stirred up when I think about how coaches can re-traumatize athletes without even knowing they’re dipping into that. If she didn’t have that relationship this may have been a completely different story.
Excellent breakdown of the situation and the result. As a college AD, I am especially thankful for your clarity as we have such a culture to run to judgement. It is so clear in this case that the coach has built a relationship with her player both on and off the court and that allows her to bring that level of intensity to the situation and have it so well received by her athlete.
The love I possess for March Madness can't be matched by anything else. It has been since last year that I have watched it and listened to almost very bit of pre and post game interviews of coaches & players and I am like the relationship, the bond, the rapport each and every player build and the bond shared by coaches with players is best thing I can listen to 7 witness.
Coaches treat their players more better than people treat in their bloodline for sure.
Coaches can make or break team. That goes for Gregg Popovich, that goes for Coach K, Steve Kerr, Tara VanDerveer, Dawn Staley, Kara Lawson, Geno Auriemma, Patrick Sang and other thousands of coaches in any walk of life.
Sticking to fundamentals, being authentic and flexible, putting in consistent work for years on end yields good results.
Take for example this.
Two years before she was named “Most Outstanding Player” of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Lauren Betts was lying on a gurney in a psychiatric ward.
At 6 ft 7” and the No. 1 ranked recruit in her class, Lauren was a starter for one of the best women’s basketball programs in the country. From the outside, she was thriving. On the inside, she was suffering.
In a deeply personal essay published in The Players’ Tribune in March 2026, a few weeks before she led UCLA to its first-ever national championship, Betts described the morning her depression finally broke through every defense she had built: “I don’t want to do this anymore.” She called the team trainer and she checked herself in to the psychiatric ward.
“On the outside, she appeared beautiful, talented, and successful. But on the inside, it didn’t match.” - UCLA Head Coach Cori Close
I don't know but players/athletes are some focused that they have to deal with Identity Foreclosure at some point of time in their lives or it can be multiple times for some as well.
When one is playing at the highest level or be it Sophomore as well, they are entirely focused on how to be the best version of themselves. From the time they wake up- they need to do take are of the diet before the workouts, then go for the workout, strength & conditioning in the gym, rest and then do some of it in the evening and very next day appears. This is the routine of any basketball player which they keep on doing it for months which turn to years and the ultimate goal is to win the NCAA Championship once if not multiple times.
How can one jump off from this box, it is quite difficult for anyone to broaden the aperture and put off the blinders for once. But blinders are quite helpful as in today's world, the algo can easily waver us off the Task in hand and can distract & steal our effort in the moment.
But the way Lauren Betts cam through all of this is great to see and behind every of this story there are n number of people whose support was the reason one could do wonders.
I have understood Psychological Safety in any team, organization, family set up or be it anywhere is the foremost thing to thrive in life.
It was because of her mother & coach Close that got her back told her to be vulnerable and be herself with whatever she feels. It is quite difficult to talk about mental health socially because people are quite fast to tear you apart but when you are supported by people around you, you are not filled with fear as you know you have a safety net even if you fall.
You articulate this perfectly. I often spend multiple sessions with clients breaking down the voices that motivate or demotivate them and understanding the specific scenarios when that happens. Once an athlete has a level of awareness of that, they gain a significant amount of control over the outcome.
This is phenomenal, sending it to a lot of people.
A coaches coach! Great info
Incredible depth on this one, Steve.
Thanks for sharing. Like many, I just saw the viral clip and didn’t understand the full context.
Great piece!!
Steve, for what it's worth, Brenda has an 11th grade son that recently converted to track and ran a 1:55.86 at New Balance Nationals Indoor. :)
Wow! That's so cool. Love the running connection.
Buenísimo. Exelente mensaje 💯
I left a comment earlier and deleted it after digging into it a bit more and watching Oluchi talk to the press after - The relationship here is so key. Oluchi Okananwa knows that coach believes in her - I do get a bit stirred up when I think about how coaches can re-traumatize athletes without even knowing they’re dipping into that. If she didn’t have that relationship this may have been a completely different story.