Women's Basketball
Close, Cori
Cori Close
- Title:
- The Michael Price Family UCLA Women's Head Basketball Coach
- Email:
- cclose@athletics.ucla.edu
Cori Close was named The Michael Price Family UCLA Women’s Head Basketball Coach on April 21, 2011, and is currently 321-143 (.692) overall. She joins Billie Moore (296-181) and Kathy Olivier (232-208) as the only coaches in program history to eclipse the 200-win milestone and became the first to achieve 300-career wins at UCLA.
Close led the Bruins to a historic year of firsts and broken records in 2024-25, earning her a sweep of the national Coach of the Year awards (Associated Press, Naismith, USBWA, and WBCA). UCLA went 34-3 and made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Final Four after capturing the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Championship. The Bruins downed a No. 1-ranked team for the first time, handling South Carolina on Nov. 24, 2024 (W, 77-62). UCLA went on to capture its first No. 1 ranking by the Associated Press (AP) and set a new Big Ten Conference record with 12-consecutive weeks atop the AP poll. The Bruins were ranked No. 1 by the AP for 14 of the 19 weeks in the 2024-25 season; UCLA also set single-season records for most wins (34), consecutive wins (23) and consecutive wins by a double-digit margin (22).
UCLA saw its second-consecutive 27-win season in the 2023-24 campaign, tying the third-most wins in a season in UCLA program history. Close helped lead the Bruins past UConn for the first time when UCLA downed then-No. 6 UConn 78-67 in the Cayman Islands Classic. UCLA also reached its highest ranking in program history, sitting at No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 Women’s Basketball Poll for nine weeks during the season. The 2023-24 Bruins made a run to the Sweet Sixteen for the second-consecutive year under Close’s guidance; UCLA has reached at least the second round of the NCAA tournament in seven of the last nine seasons. UCLA crashed the boards as directed by Close and led the NCAA in rebounding margin (+13.9) for the 2023-24 season.
Three Bruins earned All-Pac-12 designations for their efforts; Charisma Osborne became the seventh Bruin to be drafted to the WNBA under Close. Osborne was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2024 WNBA Draft. UCLA’s head coach was named the recipient of the 2024 WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced in February of 2024. The WBCA presents the award annually to an active member coach who exemplifies Eckman's spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose.
Close brought in her second top-rated recruiting class ahead of the 2022-23 season and immediately utilized the young talent alongside the veteran core. The five freshmen each played an average of 19.0 minutes per game once they arrived in Westwood, the most of any freshman class in the NCAA. The Bruins recorded 13 wins in their first 14 games to begin the season. It was the best start for the program since the 2019-20 campaign. UCLA captured the Battle 4 Atlantis championship in The Bahamas, taking down Marquette in overtime of the final game of the tournament.
The team led the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds per game (14.9 ORPG) en route to a run at the Pac-12 Tournament championship. UCLA defeated No.-1 seeded Stanford in the Pac-12 semifinals, punching a ticket to the championship game. Senior Charisma Osborne, redshirt-sophomore Emily Bessoir and freshman Kiki Rice earned Pac-12 All-Tournament team for the Conference runner-up efforts; Osborne was named All-Pac-12, and Rice was joined by Londynn Jones on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. The Bruins returned to the Sweet 16 in NCAA March Madness in postseason play, ending their season against No. 1 seed South Carolina in the Greenville region of the tournament.
The 2021-22 season proved to be “one of the most challenging years of [Close’s] career,” as the Bruins battled injuries and faced postponements and a forfeiture due to COVID-19 protocols. UCLA finished 18-13 overall, but the team managed to catch fire late in the season. Close guided the Bruins to a postseason run in the WNIT, making a trip to the semifinals before falling to South Dakota State.
Close led the Bruins through an unpredictable 2020-21 season, a campaign that required Close to navigate COVID-19 protocols and a limited roster. The Bruins posted a 17-6 overall record, picking up wins against five ranked opponents. The Bruins were ranked inside the top 11 of the AP Poll throughout the season and notched the No. 5 spot in November, the highest ranking for the program since 2017. Close guided the Bruins to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and an eventual three-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under Close’s tenure.
Michaela Onyenwere earned AP Third-Team All-American honors for the second-straight year and was selected by the New York Liberty with the sixth pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. Onyenwere became the sixth Bruin under Close’s tenure to be drafted into the WNBA, and the fifth in four years.
2019-20 was an historic year for Close and the Bruins. UCLA won its first 13 games of the campaign, setting a new program record for the most consecutive wins to start a season. The Bruins’ win over then-No. 6 Stanford marked Close’s 100th-career Pac-12 victory. A win over the Trojans in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals won the Bruins the season series over their crosstown rival. UCLA would, ultimately, finish the year 26-5 and was set to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The national postseason schedule, however, was canceled due to COVID-19.
Close helped guide the Bruins to a myriad of individual honors during the 2019-20 season. Junior Michaela Onyenwere earned AP Third Team All-America acclaim and also garnered All-Pac-12 recognition. Senior Japreece Dean also earned All-Pac-12 honors while Charisma Osborne picked up Pac-12 All-Freshman accolades. Dean was drafted with the 30th overall pick by the Chicago Sky in the 2020 WNBA Draft, becoming the fifth draft pick across Close’s tenure at the helm.
The 2018-19 season saw UCLA win 13 of its last 17 games and finish fourth in a highly competitive Pac-12 Conference, and Close was ultimately named the Media Pac-12 Coach of the Year. The Bruins collected nine road wins, the most since 2012-13 when the team had 13. UCLA also had seven top-25 wins, including a pair of top-10 wins over then-ranked No. 2 Oregon and No. 9 Maryland. In UCLA’s historic win over the Ducks on Feb. 22, the Bruins overcame a 22-point deficit and secured their biggest win since knocking off No. 2 Stanford in 2008. The loss for Oregon marked its only setback in Eugene that season.
UCLA, which ranked second in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game (17.3) in 2018-19, ultimately finished 22-13 on the year, reaching the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament and collecting NCAA Tournament wins over Tennessee and Maryland, before falling to perennial power UCONN by a final score of 69-61. It was the fourth-straight Sweet 16 appearance for UCLA, making the Bruins one of just eight NCAA Division I programs to do so. In the final ESPN/USA Today rankings, UCLA rose 10 spots to No. 14, the highest leap by any program in the polls. Close produced her fourth WNBA draft pick as a head coach, as Kennedy Burke was picked in the second round by the Dallas Wings as the 22nd overall pick.
Close guided the Bruins to a 27-8 overall record in 2017-18, including a tie for third place in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 mark. She was named the 2018 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 5 Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. The Bruins reached the Sweet 16 for a record extending third consecutive year and ended the season with an Elite 8 appearance for the first time since 1999, falling to No. 1 Mississippi State on March 25, 2018. She also produced her second and third draft picks as a head coach as Jordin Canada was taken as the fifth overall pick in the first round by the Seattle Storm and Monique Billings was the 15th overall pick (third pick in the second round) by the Atlanta Dream.
In 2016-17, Close led the Bruins to a 25-9 overall record, including a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 with a 13-5 record (the No. 1 conference in the country in RPI for the second straight season). She posted her 100th-career victory in a 95-47 win over Southern on Nov. 18, 2016. She also guided the Bruins to their first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in program history.
In 2015-16, Close led the Bruins to a 26-9 overall record and a third-place finish in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 record and guided the Bruins to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. Close was named the 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 5 Co-Coach of the Year (with Arizona State’s Charli Turner Thorne). She also produced her first draft pick as a head coach, as Nirra Fields was selected as the 32nd overall pick (eighth pick in the third round) by the Phoenix Mercury.
On April 4, 2015, Close led the Bruins to their first WNIT Championship in school history in UCLA’s first-ever appearance in the postseason tournament with a 62-60 win over West Virginia in Charleston, W.Va.. It marked UCLA’s first postseason title of any kind since winning the Pac-10 Tournament in 2006.
This is the first head coaching assignment for Close, who has worked as associate head coach or assistant on teams that have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 16 seasons, won at least 20 games in 16 of the previous 18 seasons and won or shared a total of 11 conference championships.
Close, who served on the Bruin coaching staff in 1994 and 1995, returned to Westwood after spending seven seasons as associate head coach at Florida State University. Considered one of the top offensive minds in the game, Close helped guide the Seminoles into a nationally-recognized program in her time. FSU ranked among the nation’s top 30 teams in scoring, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage her last two seasons in Florida.
Close led the Bruins to a historic year of firsts and broken records in 2024-25, earning her a sweep of the national Coach of the Year awards (Associated Press, Naismith, USBWA, and WBCA). UCLA went 34-3 and made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Final Four after capturing the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Championship. The Bruins downed a No. 1-ranked team for the first time, handling South Carolina on Nov. 24, 2024 (W, 77-62). UCLA went on to capture its first No. 1 ranking by the Associated Press (AP) and set a new Big Ten Conference record with 12-consecutive weeks atop the AP poll. The Bruins were ranked No. 1 by the AP for 14 of the 19 weeks in the 2024-25 season; UCLA also set single-season records for most wins (34), consecutive wins (23) and consecutive wins by a double-digit margin (22).
UCLA saw its second-consecutive 27-win season in the 2023-24 campaign, tying the third-most wins in a season in UCLA program history. Close helped lead the Bruins past UConn for the first time when UCLA downed then-No. 6 UConn 78-67 in the Cayman Islands Classic. UCLA also reached its highest ranking in program history, sitting at No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 Women’s Basketball Poll for nine weeks during the season. The 2023-24 Bruins made a run to the Sweet Sixteen for the second-consecutive year under Close’s guidance; UCLA has reached at least the second round of the NCAA tournament in seven of the last nine seasons. UCLA crashed the boards as directed by Close and led the NCAA in rebounding margin (+13.9) for the 2023-24 season.
Three Bruins earned All-Pac-12 designations for their efforts; Charisma Osborne became the seventh Bruin to be drafted to the WNBA under Close. Osborne was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2024 WNBA Draft. UCLA’s head coach was named the recipient of the 2024 WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced in February of 2024. The WBCA presents the award annually to an active member coach who exemplifies Eckman's spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose.
Close brought in her second top-rated recruiting class ahead of the 2022-23 season and immediately utilized the young talent alongside the veteran core. The five freshmen each played an average of 19.0 minutes per game once they arrived in Westwood, the most of any freshman class in the NCAA. The Bruins recorded 13 wins in their first 14 games to begin the season. It was the best start for the program since the 2019-20 campaign. UCLA captured the Battle 4 Atlantis championship in The Bahamas, taking down Marquette in overtime of the final game of the tournament.
The team led the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds per game (14.9 ORPG) en route to a run at the Pac-12 Tournament championship. UCLA defeated No.-1 seeded Stanford in the Pac-12 semifinals, punching a ticket to the championship game. Senior Charisma Osborne, redshirt-sophomore Emily Bessoir and freshman Kiki Rice earned Pac-12 All-Tournament team for the Conference runner-up efforts; Osborne was named All-Pac-12, and Rice was joined by Londynn Jones on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. The Bruins returned to the Sweet 16 in NCAA March Madness in postseason play, ending their season against No. 1 seed South Carolina in the Greenville region of the tournament.
The 2021-22 season proved to be “one of the most challenging years of [Close’s] career,” as the Bruins battled injuries and faced postponements and a forfeiture due to COVID-19 protocols. UCLA finished 18-13 overall, but the team managed to catch fire late in the season. Close guided the Bruins to a postseason run in the WNIT, making a trip to the semifinals before falling to South Dakota State.
Close led the Bruins through an unpredictable 2020-21 season, a campaign that required Close to navigate COVID-19 protocols and a limited roster. The Bruins posted a 17-6 overall record, picking up wins against five ranked opponents. The Bruins were ranked inside the top 11 of the AP Poll throughout the season and notched the No. 5 spot in November, the highest ranking for the program since 2017. Close guided the Bruins to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and an eventual three-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under Close’s tenure.
Michaela Onyenwere earned AP Third-Team All-American honors for the second-straight year and was selected by the New York Liberty with the sixth pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. Onyenwere became the sixth Bruin under Close’s tenure to be drafted into the WNBA, and the fifth in four years.
2019-20 was an historic year for Close and the Bruins. UCLA won its first 13 games of the campaign, setting a new program record for the most consecutive wins to start a season. The Bruins’ win over then-No. 6 Stanford marked Close’s 100th-career Pac-12 victory. A win over the Trojans in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals won the Bruins the season series over their crosstown rival. UCLA would, ultimately, finish the year 26-5 and was set to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The national postseason schedule, however, was canceled due to COVID-19.
Close helped guide the Bruins to a myriad of individual honors during the 2019-20 season. Junior Michaela Onyenwere earned AP Third Team All-America acclaim and also garnered All-Pac-12 recognition. Senior Japreece Dean also earned All-Pac-12 honors while Charisma Osborne picked up Pac-12 All-Freshman accolades. Dean was drafted with the 30th overall pick by the Chicago Sky in the 2020 WNBA Draft, becoming the fifth draft pick across Close’s tenure at the helm.
The 2018-19 season saw UCLA win 13 of its last 17 games and finish fourth in a highly competitive Pac-12 Conference, and Close was ultimately named the Media Pac-12 Coach of the Year. The Bruins collected nine road wins, the most since 2012-13 when the team had 13. UCLA also had seven top-25 wins, including a pair of top-10 wins over then-ranked No. 2 Oregon and No. 9 Maryland. In UCLA’s historic win over the Ducks on Feb. 22, the Bruins overcame a 22-point deficit and secured their biggest win since knocking off No. 2 Stanford in 2008. The loss for Oregon marked its only setback in Eugene that season.
UCLA, which ranked second in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game (17.3) in 2018-19, ultimately finished 22-13 on the year, reaching the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament and collecting NCAA Tournament wins over Tennessee and Maryland, before falling to perennial power UCONN by a final score of 69-61. It was the fourth-straight Sweet 16 appearance for UCLA, making the Bruins one of just eight NCAA Division I programs to do so. In the final ESPN/USA Today rankings, UCLA rose 10 spots to No. 14, the highest leap by any program in the polls. Close produced her fourth WNBA draft pick as a head coach, as Kennedy Burke was picked in the second round by the Dallas Wings as the 22nd overall pick.
Close guided the Bruins to a 27-8 overall record in 2017-18, including a tie for third place in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 mark. She was named the 2018 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 5 Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. The Bruins reached the Sweet 16 for a record extending third consecutive year and ended the season with an Elite 8 appearance for the first time since 1999, falling to No. 1 Mississippi State on March 25, 2018. She also produced her second and third draft picks as a head coach as Jordin Canada was taken as the fifth overall pick in the first round by the Seattle Storm and Monique Billings was the 15th overall pick (third pick in the second round) by the Atlanta Dream.
In 2016-17, Close led the Bruins to a 25-9 overall record, including a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 with a 13-5 record (the No. 1 conference in the country in RPI for the second straight season). She posted her 100th-career victory in a 95-47 win over Southern on Nov. 18, 2016. She also guided the Bruins to their first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in program history.
In 2015-16, Close led the Bruins to a 26-9 overall record and a third-place finish in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 record and guided the Bruins to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. Close was named the 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 5 Co-Coach of the Year (with Arizona State’s Charli Turner Thorne). She also produced her first draft pick as a head coach, as Nirra Fields was selected as the 32nd overall pick (eighth pick in the third round) by the Phoenix Mercury.
On April 4, 2015, Close led the Bruins to their first WNIT Championship in school history in UCLA’s first-ever appearance in the postseason tournament with a 62-60 win over West Virginia in Charleston, W.Va.. It marked UCLA’s first postseason title of any kind since winning the Pac-10 Tournament in 2006.
This is the first head coaching assignment for Close, who has worked as associate head coach or assistant on teams that have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 16 seasons, won at least 20 games in 16 of the previous 18 seasons and won or shared a total of 11 conference championships.
Close, who served on the Bruin coaching staff in 1994 and 1995, returned to Westwood after spending seven seasons as associate head coach at Florida State University. Considered one of the top offensive minds in the game, Close helped guide the Seminoles into a nationally-recognized program in her time. FSU ranked among the nation’s top 30 teams in scoring, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage her last two seasons in Florida.
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Tuesday, June 24
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Friday, April 04
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Thursday, April 03
UCLA W. Basketball, Final Four Media Availability – Coach Close (April 3, 2025)
Thursday, April 03
