A Youtube Challenge And Mantra Of Joy Inspired The Ucla Basketball Team's Viral Dance

The UCLA women’s hoops squad wanted to spell dancing successful March truthful badly, they sewage a caput start.

When 3 Bruins starters — Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker — joined nan UCLA creation squad for a halftime capacity astatine a men’s hoops crippled connected March 3, Leger-Walker viewed it arsenic conscionable a nosy small bonding infinitesimal and an description of nan team’s intentional joy.

What she didn’t expect was nan virality of nan infinitesimal correct arsenic nan 28-1 Bruins were headed to nan Big Ten tournament.

“We conscionable wanted 1,000 views,” she said.

Since then, videos of nan regular person exploded crossed societal media — 14.5k likes connected espnW, 21.8k likes astatine Fox Sports, tens of thousands much crossed Instagram and TikTok.

Leger-Walker challenged nan UCLA creation squad to thatch a halftime regular wrong 24 hours for a video connected her YouTube channel, wherever she was joined by Jaquez. She said if nan video sewage much than 1,000 likes, she and her teammates would execute during halftime astatine a men’s hoops game.

During halftime of nan UCLA men’s hoops crippled against Nebraska, Leger-Walker, Jaquez and Betts stood astatine nan beforehand of nan group and danced to Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching” for much than a infinitesimal successful beforehand of their teammates and coach Cori Close. The hoops squad swarmed nan trio aft their performance.

“One of nan creation captains [Kaili Tam] reached retired to me, and she was like, ‘oh my gosh,’ like, if you wanted to ever do a collab pinch nan creation team, we would wholly beryllium down,” Leger-Walker said. “I was like, totally. Like, I’m truthful down for this.”

Leger-Walker and Jaquez made a video connected Feb. 16, practicing a creation regular pinch nan situation successful mind. If it sewage 1,000 likes, they would creation astatine nan men’s crippled against Nebraska connected March 3.

It reached 1,200 likes, truthful nan shape was set.

“I brought successful [Betts] because I knew she’d emotion thing for illustration that,” Leger-Walker said, drafting a smirk from elder defender Kiki Rice, sitting adjacent to her successful nan Bruins’ Big Ten tourney locker room.

“I almost had her successful there!” Leger-Walker said, turning to Rice. “But location was specified a clip commitment.”

“I would have,” Rice said pinch a smile.

Leger-Walker began vlogging her season successful December, opening pinch a video titled, “MY 650 DAY RETURN FROM BRUTAL ACL INJURY!” She has done videos pinch nan No. 5 classed gymnastics squad and No. 7 softball team, wherever Jaquez spent clip past season.

Leger-Walker played her first 4 seasons astatine Washington State but tore her anterior cruciate ligament midway done her elder year. She transferred to UCLA and redshirted past play earlier starting nan existent 1 arsenic a cardinal limb for UCLA.

In her return to nan court, nan sixth-year defender has averaged 9.1 points per crippled pinch 4.3 rebounds successful 27.9 minutes.

With nan Cougars, Leger-Walker had been 1 of nan astir lethal shooters successful nan country, averaging 17.7 points per crippled and shooting 34.9% from three-point scope arsenic a junior. She averaged much than 36 minutes per crippled until she tore her ACL while playing against UCLA.

“When you’re benignant of successful nan extremity process of getting backmost onto nan court, location is specified a intelligence obstruction of, is my knee going to springiness retired again?” Leger-Walker said. “Like, ‘Can I do what I utilized to do?’ Trying not to comparison myself to nan subordinate I was before. There’s truthful galore factors that play into it. So, you know, I had to do a batch of therapy.”

The Bruins haven’t mislaid a crippled since Nov. 26 erstwhile they fell to No. 4 Texas. As nan No. 2 squad successful nan nation, UCLA is 1 of nan favorites to make a tally backmost to nan Final Four.

Getting a nosy infinitesimal extracurricular of hoops is nan benignant of ethos of this season’s Bruins, pinch Jaquez saying Close has preached joyousness arsenic overmuch arsenic wins.

“We person to bask life,” Jaquez said. “We play pinch joy, but we person that competitory separator too. But it makes it much nosy retired location if you are, you know, really having fun.”

The adjacent rehearsals travel pinch much urgency and nan cardinal capacity will beryllium connected a overmuch bigger stage, pinch nan NCAA tourney connected nan horizon.

“A large point for me, is you’re playing, but you’re not only conscionable playing, but you are playing connected nan champion squad successful nan nation,” Leger-Walker said. “Gratitude is big.”