Inês Bettencourt finds comfort in fellow international teammates

Inês Bettencourt and Nika Mühl are just a couple examples of players who left their homes overseas to play basketball at UConn. Mühl grew up in Zagreb, Croatia and Bettencourt grew up in Sao Miguel, Portugal.

Bettencourt, though, recently transferred from UConn to Gonzaga for an opportunity to earn more minutes. Transferring to Gonzaga meant that Bettencourt had to adjust to a new environment all over again, but this time she was more prepared after moving on a whim to Connecticut and attending a school she has never seen before.

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

“Whenever I came to the United States, that was my first time here,” Bettancourt told The Next. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was way different culture wise, people wise, food wise, there’s a lot of little aspects that I could name that would make it different. Basketball itself is way bigger here than in Portugal… I came from a small island where everybody knew each other. Then I get myself into the states where I don’t know anybody. I don’t know the school that I was getting myself into. I didn’t know the sports that I was getting myself into in the United States. It was a big change.”

Bettencourt received help from her coaches and teammates during the adjustment process. Mühl was extremely supportive of Bettencourt after knowing what it’s like to move overseas away from your family and the place you call home.

“That’s like my little sister, that I didn’t have in college close to me, and obviously us internationals, I kind of feel like we always understood each other better and had a similar idea of what we’ve gotten ourselves into and just going through the highs and lows together,” Mühl told The Next. “Obviously, our Americans, we love them, and they’re our sisters. Being internationally, that same position is a little different. So we kind of found our language in that [international connection], and especially within it.”

I know, seeing her come in, I always said her and Jana [UConn center Jana El Alfy] specifically, I always felt like [I was] looking at myself when I was a freshman, and now I had the opportunity of being somebody that can shine in those hard moments, so either being away from home or playing less, or going through the things that I went through when I was their age, and it was easy, it [being a mentor] was always kind of easy flowing. And I love her [Bettencourt]. She’s an amazing human being, an amazing player. And I’m just very excited to see what she’s going to do at Gonzaga. I mean, it’s gonna be huge.”

Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Bettencourt expressed appreciation of the support she has received from Mühl and her other teammates and spoke out about some of the emotions and loneliness she experienced.

“My teammates [at UConn], we have some Internationals that went through the same thing that I did so they just supported me throughout the first couple months that I needed the most help with and my American teammates too,” Bettencourt said. “I remember that they would just be like ‘let’s go to dinner’ or ‘let’s just spend some time together’ because I was literally alone. I was a phone call away from my family, but it’s never the same thing.”

There is certainly a connection between the UConn and the amount of international players that they recruit. It has allowed players to confide in some of their teammates who may be going through similar challenges as them. 

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said he looks for a type of person when recruiting players for his team and various international players always seem to impress him. Mühl’s appreciation for the opportunity to play basketball in the U.S. has grown after seeing how much more women’s sports are appreciated here than back home.

“I told him [Auriemma], once he got me at UConn, he started looking internationally a bit more, whether he likes to admit it or not,” Mühl said with a laugh. “But no, I mean, I feel like he just appreciates a certain type of person, and I’m not saying it’s necessarily an international person, but the amount of resources and the amount of opportunity that international players get, we’re very grateful for everything, not saying our American players are not, but there’s a big difference in how women’s sports are looked at overseas versus in America.”

Now that Bettencourt attends Gonzaga and Mühl is playing for the Seattle Storm, they are only a four-hour drive away from each other. They were able to spend some time together during the WNBA Olympic break.

Check out CBB Analytics today!

Unlock the secrets of college basketball success with CBBAnalytics.com. Our site offers exclusive data-driven insights and analytics, making it the go-to resource for fans, analysts and coaches alike.

“I told her, I’m gonna try to catch a game if possible, but I’m just so happy for her, and I can’t wait to see what she does [at Gonzaga],” Mühl said.

Bettencourt told The Next that not only is school more difficult overseas but that she would attend school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then would go to practice right after. In between both, she would then have to find time to study and eat dinner as well. She noted that it is mostly the same thing when attending college there.

Bettencourt visited multiple schools but chose her first visited school, Gonzaga because of its similarities to the culture at UConn that she was able to find comfort in. The culture around UConn basketball is filled with passionate fans which is where it gets its nickname, ‘The Basketball Capital of the World’.

“There was a lot of little things that drew me to the school [Gonzaga]. I feel like basketball wise the culture is similar to UConn. Of course it’s not as big as UConn but it was one of the main reasons that I chose Gonzaga. It’s a great school to get my degree. The people here, the coaches were amazing and at the end of the day I was like it’s Gonzaga,” Bettencourt said.

Similar to Mühl, Bettencourt’s adjustment has been easier the second time around since she knew what to expect. Bettencourt once again has had to battle the time difference making it even harder to talk to her family back home and friends at UConn.

“The first two years I had to adapt  going from Portugal to UConn. I had to adapt to America…The last two years that I have adapted I’ve grown. I’m more mature than when I got here,” Bettencourt said.

Bettencourt is a person of many talents and most people don’t know that she plays the piano or that she grew up as a multisport athlete playing volleyball and running track too. She was excited when she found out that her new apartment in Washington has a piano that she will be able to use.

She also enjoys building legos in her free time which has been helpful during both of her adjustments to UConn and Gonzaga. Her favorite lego sets to build are anything Harry Potter.

Due to the moving process Bettencourt had to take apart her Legos and during her down time will be able to rebuild them. 

Bettencourt is ready to put all the pieces back together not just of her Lego sets, but on the basketball court when she debuts as a Bulldog this fall.