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Cori Close

Column 1
Close with UCLA in 2026
Head coach
UCLA
Big Ten
358–144 (.713)
(1971-07-29) July 29, 1971Milpitas, California, U.S.
UC Santa Barbara
Guard
UCLA (assistant)
UC Santa Barbara (Asst./Assoc.)
Florida State (AHC)
UCLA
358–144 (.713)
NCAA Division I tournament (2026)
2 NCAA Regional—Final Four (2025, 2026)
WNIT (2015)
2 Big Ten tournament (2025, 2026)
Big Ten regular season (2026)
USBWA Coach of the Year (2025)
Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year (2025)
Big Ten Coach of the Year (2026)

Cori Rashel Close (born July 29, 1971) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the UCLA Bruins women's team. She played college basketball as a guard for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos from 1989 to 1993, serving as a team captain during her final two seasons and helping them reach consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Following the end of her playing career, Close served as an assistant coach with UCLA from 1993 to 1995, UC Santa Barbara from 1995 to 2004, and the Florida State Seminoles from 2004 to 2011 before being named UCLA's head coach in 2011. Close won the 2026 basketball championship with the Bruins, the women team's first NCAA title.

Source

In May 2004, Close became associate head coach at Florida State under head coach Sue Semrau. The Seminoles made the NCAA Tournament in each of Close’s seven seasons on the staff in Tallahassee, including the program’s first appearances in the Sweet Sixteen (2007) and Elite Eight (2010).

On April 21, 2011, Close was named head coach at UCLA. She led the Bruins to their first Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 2025, after taking them to the Sweet Sixteen six times, advancing to the regional final once in 2018.

In the 2026 NCAA national championship game, Close's Bruins defeated South Carolina 79–51 for the program's first NCAA title.

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UCLA (Pac-12 Conference) (2011–2024)
2011–12	UCLA	14–16	9–9	T–5th
2012–13	UCLA	26–8	14–4	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2013–14	UCLA	13–18	7–11	8th
2014–15	UCLA	19–18	8–10	6th	WNIT Champions
2015–16	UCLA	26–9	14–4	T–3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17	UCLA	25–9	13–5	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2017–18	UCLA	27–8	14–4	T–3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2018–19	UCLA	22–13	12–6	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2019–20	UCLA	26–5	14–4	T–2nd	Postseason not held
2020–21	UCLA	17–6	12–4	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2021–22	UCLA	18–13	8–8	7th	WNIT Semifinals
2022–23	UCLA	27–10	11–7	T–4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2023–24	UCLA	27–7	13–5	T–2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
UCLA (Big Ten Conference) (2024–present)
2024–25	UCLA	34–3	16–2	2nd	NCAA Final Four
2025–26	UCLA	37–1	18–0	1st	NCAA Champions
UCLA:	358–144 (.713)	183–83 (.688)
Total:	358–144 (.713)
National champion
Postseason invitational champion

Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion

Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion

Column 1	Column 2
	This section is in list format but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this section, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2026)

March 23, 2016 – Close was named the 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 5 Coach of the Year
March 6, 2019 – Close was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year by Pac-12 women's basketball media members
March 20, 2025 – Close was named USBWA Coach of the Year
March 24, 2025 – Close was named a finalist for the Naismith College Coach of the Year
April 2, 2025 – Close was the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year

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