Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
Close Sweeps Coach of the Year Awards with WBCA and AP Announcements Thursday
April 03, 2025 | Women's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. – The Michael Price Family UCLA Women's Head Basketball Coach Cori Close has been named Coach of the Year by both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Associated Press (AP), both organizations announced at the NCAA Women's Final Four Thursday.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Close became the first UCLA women's basketball head coach to reach 300-career wins and the program's all-time winningest coach. She has 321-career wins and boasts a program-best .693 winning percentage. Close's Bruins captured UCLA's first conference tournament title since 2006 after overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat the No. 1-seed USC Trojans in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament.
Close was named the USBWA Coach of the Year on Thursday, March 20 and 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year on Wednesday, April 2.
Close, who is in her 14th season at the helm, is the first female head coach from UCLA to win a Naismith Award. She is the sixth Big Ten coach to receive the honor and first since 2019. The Bruins are on an historic run, having set a program record for wins in a season (34) and are headed to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Close, who was voted USBWA Coach of the Year, helped UCLA spend 12 consecutive weeks (Nov. 25 – Feb. 10) ranked at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25, a Big Ten women's basketball record.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Close became the first UCLA women's basketball head coach to reach 300-career wins and the program's all-time winningest coach. She has 321-career wins and boasts a program-best .693 winning percentage. Close's Bruins captured UCLA's first conference tournament title since 2006 after overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat the No. 1-seed USC Trojans in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament.
Close was named the USBWA Coach of the Year on Thursday, March 20 and 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year on Wednesday, April 2.
The 2025 Naismith ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????: Cori Close!
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) April 2, 2025
???: https://t.co/1mHPD3TUXp
#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/JblP3luGnJ
Close, who is in her 14th season at the helm, is the first female head coach from UCLA to win a Naismith Award. She is the sixth Big Ten coach to receive the honor and first since 2019. The Bruins are on an historic run, having set a program record for wins in a season (34) and are headed to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Close, who was voted USBWA Coach of the Year, helped UCLA spend 12 consecutive weeks (Nov. 25 – Feb. 10) ranked at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25, a Big Ten women's basketball record.
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