Struggle and Joy: the Cori Close method
PHOENIX – Cori Close is somebody who is aware of when to raise and when to push.
It’s that stability that is made Close the most profitable head coach in UCLA girls’s basketball historical past with over 350 wins to her identify and nonetheless counting. This season particularly, as the Bruins enter the Final Four and chase a nationwide championship, it has been pleasure and success that is been at the forefront of Close’s thoughts.
commercial
She’s one among the most seen media coaches in girls’s school basketball in the present day, hardly ever turning down a chat present or podcast look and utilizing her platform to repeatedly elevate not simply her staff, however girls’s basketball as a complete. Her postgame conferences learn like a motivational seminar, rife with aphorisms about requirements, rules and dedication.
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins claps on the sideline throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jordan Teller – The Sporting Tribune
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins claps on the sideline throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
But, as joyous as Close is, she’s additionally somebody who’s unafraid to deliver the hammer down. In practices, she’s laser targeted on enchancment. Should a play go fallacious and the effort is not to her liking, the Bruins can count on wall sits or baseline sprints of their future, all whereas Close continues to be making speeches about progress or excellence, although in a decidedly totally different tone.
commercial
Pushing for the finest
“She just wants the best from you and she knows what your goals are and what it takes to get there,” senior ahead Timea Gardiner mentioned. “Sometimes, those days are tough and she’s on you all the time. But you learn how to get the perspective that she wants what’s best for you and she knows what it takes to get there.”
Close is the embodiment of the two sides of management, nurturing and demanding, each uplifting their gamers in order that they have the house to develop and pushing their limits in order that they develop additional nonetheless.
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins on the sideline throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jordan Teller – The Sporting Tribune
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins on the sideline throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
commercial
The fantastic line that Close walks is what she calls the stability between battle and pleasure.
“You try to celebrate what you want to see more of and celebrate the growth that you see and then still have an edge about you,” Close mentioned. “I don’t think anybody grows to their maximum level and when it’s just joy and it’s just loosey goosey. But… if you’re just demeaned and it’s just laborious and you’re struggling all the time, I don’t think you get your maximum growth.”
It’s the little issues
Gardiner is one among a number of Bruins with a number of seasons underneath his belt in the Cori Close Experience. Gardiner transferred to UCLA in 2024 after two seasons at Oregon State and she has seen how far Close’s dedication to requirements from huge to small might be.
commercial
One instance that got here to Gardiner’s thoughts was a time when the staff forgot to finish their meal order kinds on time. Close wasn’t happy and Gardiner mentioned that Close instructed everybody to “take care of their crap!”
It’s the little issues like that that mirror how deeply Close’s dedication to excellence extends. It’s not simply the X’s and O’s of basketball that matter to her and contribute to successful in her eyes. It’s the self-discipline and consideration to element in all issues that builds towards successful.
“It’s the small details. Everything matters. Meal order forms, laundry, things that you think that wouldn’t matter, they do for her. It’s proven that it gets us to where we’re at today and her culture’s huge,” Gardiner mentioned.
commercial
Close is ready to push everybody to get the finest out of them. It does not matter if it is a function participant or somebody main the name sheet.
Senior heart Lauren Betts is the finest instance of Close’s duality in her lack of exceptions and her nurturing spirit.
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins talks to Lauren Betts #51 of the UCLA Bruins in the huddle throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jordan Teller – The Sporting Tribune
Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins talks to Lauren Betts #51 of the UCLA Bruins in the huddle throughout an NCAA basketball sport towards the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Betts got here into UCLA as a sophomore switch from Stanford at a low level of her life and concerned in a battle together with her psychological well being that she’s since expressed in a self-written article in The Player’s Tribune.
commercial
Close and Betts needed to work and develop collectively as the head coach discovered the line of learn how to assist her struggling participant whereas additionally serving to her discover her power as a participant.
Years later, Betts is in a a lot better place and thriving as one among the high gamers in the sport. She too just isn’t spared by any of Close’s pushing, though she is aware of it is for the finest.
“I don’t want to get emotional, but she means a lot to me. She’s helped all of us so much,” Betts mentioned of Close. “I’m simply very grateful for her and she does a lot off the court docket that you just guys do not actually see. She’s exhausting on me each single day and annoys me at instances, however I do know it is as a result of she loves me.”
