The blessing and curse of UCLA's Lauren Betts' 6-7 height - ESPN

LAUREN BETTS DUCKS as she walks through the conference room door. She hunches her shoulders. She bends her head. Still, her high bun bumps into the door frame as she enters the room at The Heldrich Hotel a mile from the Rutgers campus in New Jersey.

The heralded UCLA junior basketball player spots a few chairs in the corner of the room and makes her way toward them. Halfway there, she stops. She turns around and backtracks to one positioned in the center.

Her shoulders still slumped, she plonks down. Muscle memory kicks in. She extends her legs in front of her and slides down the chair as much as gravity will allow. She's closer to eye level with the other players who are settling in around her now. She takes up less vertical space this way. Most importantly, she blends in.

An assistant coach turns on the projector and a UCLA highlight reel set to «Work» by Rihanna plays on the screen. It's mostly Betts scoring, rebounding, defending, drawing the defense and passing to open teammates. The Bruins snap their fingers. Betts averts her eyes. After years of trying — and failing — to camouflage, attention still feels awkward.

But as the UCLA staff reviews its strategy for that January night's game against Rutgers, it's clear that Betts is at the center of it all. The Bruins' success — including a shot at the program's first national championship — depends on her ability to get comfortable with that. To get comfortable knowing that more eyes than ever before will be scrutinizing her game. To get comfortable knowing that her 6-foot-7 frame is the single biggest asset the Bruins bring to March.

She made a promise to someone she loves dearly that she'll do all that — and more.

AN 11-YEAR-OLD Lauren Betts stands outside Laredo