The 2024-25 season went almost as well as Cori Close could have imaged. Almost.
Close led the Bruins to a 23-0 start and won the program’s first Big Ten championship (and the first conference crown since the 2006 Pac-12 title). Her team also advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history. For her efforts, Close was honored as Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, Associated Press, USBWA and the Naismith Awards.
For some, Close’s success is no surprise. After all, her mentor was the legendary John Wooden, the Hall of Fame coach who brought 10 NCAA titles to Southern Los Angeles across 12 seasons — a record toppled only by Geno Auriemma of the UConn women’s basketball program.
As a twist of fate, the Huskies ended the Bruins’ historic run to make way for their historic, and likely unmatched, 12th NCAA title in program history. To boot, Close and the Bruins lost six players to the transfer portal, including guard Londynn Jones, who transferred to cross-town rival USC.
“it’s just part of our new landscape,” Close said at an event in Brooklyn earlier this month.
The new landscape Close is referring to being the height of student-athlete autonomy via the transfer portal and access to NIL earnings. Couple that with the players’ desire to go where they can maximize their playing time, and it’s an entirely new ballgame for Close, who coaches from the Book of Wooden.
The Wooden approach in a modern era
Wooden believed in coaching people, not ball players. His methods were simple. Very simple. he began every season teaching his players how to put on their socks and shoes. Close has made it a tradition to bring in Wooden’s former players to continue the tradition for the UCLA women’s team. One year, Close brought in Olympian Rafer Johnson to uphold the ritual.
Today, the reality is we have many foundational things done for us. No, perhaps not athletes with their socks and shoes, but Close does compete with social media, NIL, agents and the transfer portal for attention and credibility.
Can Close continue to elevate the UCLA program by coaching hearts, not jump shots? The 53-year-old is determined to try.
“The reality is that is my greatest challenge as a leader, because I love the opportunities, I love the business, and NIL is long overdue,” Close told CBS Sports. “I want them to have great opportunities, and I want them to have habits, because after the banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust, the habits that you have and who you become and who you impact, you get to keep that forever. And so I want to do both, and that’s my challenge as a leader, is in this new landscape, figuring out how we can do both.”
The key to success is building the right team around her. The Bruins are prepared to hire a general manager of sorts. The role will facilitate conversations between athletes and agents during the recruitment and retention process.
Additionally, the UCLA athletic department has ensured Close she will be provided transparency when it comes to the women’s basketball budget, in light of the NCAA vs. House Settlement expected to change how departments allocate money for athletics. While Close is grateful to be at a program willing to change with the times, Close also thinks the NCAA needs to establish clearer boundaries for players, programs and coaches to work within.
“We need salary caps,” Close said. “If you really want competitive equity, which we all do, it makes our sport great, then you’re going to have to have transparency, but also accountability.” She added that a failure to do so, especially for women’s sports, could set the sport back despite the clear and continuous gains in viewership and investment seen recently.
Betts sisters to form dynamic duo in L.A.
And yet, none of those high level problems mean much if Close and her team cannot perform on the court. That shouldn’t be a problem for UCLA, as Close has a dynamic duo lying in wait. Next season, rising senior Lauren Betts will work in tandem with the No. 2 recruit in the nation, Sienna Betts, her younger sister.
The formidable duo, however, presents a new crop of challenges for Close. While Sienna always had her heart set on UCLA, Lauren did not. In fact, she started her career at Stanford. The notion of big sis crashing her dream school didn’t sit well with Sienna. To that end, Close’s experience and conviction to coaching hearts might be her superpower as she and her staff navigate the beauties and horrors of sisterly love.
Luckily, Close always involves an athlete’s family in her (hopefully) long-term plan for their success.
“If you’re going to be a good coach for anyone, let alone two sisters, you would be wise to go, ‘Hey, what can I learn from (their family) as well as their coaches, their high school coaches, their club coaches,” Close said. “‘What can you teach me to be a good mentor for them in this way?'”
As for any sibling tiffs, Close expects it and thinks it’s “a cool thing” that speaks to their competitiveness. If you can survive your sibling during charge drills, who else stands a chance, right?
Humor aside, the challenge the Betts sisters — who Close wisely refers to by their individual first names — appears to be the case study to her overall coaching philosophy:
Sometimes you. Sometimes me. Always us.
“They’re winners. They want to be great. They do love each other,” Close said. “And I don’t know any sisters that don’t have a little of this, and a little that, especially when you’re that competitive … it’s a thing that we have to have honest communication about.”
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