Winning National Championships brings plenty of benefits and rewards to college athletics programs, and UCLA women’s head basketball coach Cori Close received hers on Tuesday.
After leading the Bruins to back-to-back Final Fours, the only two national semifinals in program history, and capping a 37-1 season with their first national championship, the university extended Close’s contract by four seasons, running through the 2029-30 season. According to reports, the new contract will pay her $2 million per year.
“I am so grateful to Chancellor Frenk and Martin Jarmond for the opportunity to continue teaching and mentoring the young women who choose UCLA,” Close said in an official announcement from the school. “I love being here in Westwood, and I am so excited for what the future holds.”
Advertisement
” I would also like to say thank you to our coaches, student-athletes, support staff, alumni, fans and donors for their belief in our UNCOMMON mission. We would not be where we are today without their support and their commitment to our values. It fills me with such joy to share this with our village, and I hope we can continue to make our Bruin faithful proud.”
Close’s Impact on UCLA
UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close yells out to her team as they play the South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA women’s basketball national championship at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on April 5, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This is Cori Close’s first head coaching job after serving as an assistant for the Bruins and Florida State. She is just the fourth women’s basketball coach in UCLA history, and the program hasn’t experienced anything like the level of success it has since she arrived in Westwood. Before her tenure, the three previous coaches had combined for seven 20-win seasons since 1981-82. They had also never been better than a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament and only reached one Elite Eight.
Advertisement
In the last 15 years, Close has outdone those coaches and then some. Her Bruins teams have won 20 games in a season 10 times, including two 30-win seasons. Each time they’ve won 20 games, they’ve also reached the NCAA Tournament, making it past the first weekend eight times. Under Close, UCLA has been a three-seed or better seven times, including top-two seeds in each of the last three seasons and back-to-back No. 1 seeds.
Apr 5, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close celebrates with the trophy on the podium with teammates after defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks during the National Championship game of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
Close’s Stellar Tenure
This season, she also added Big Ten Champion and a second Big Ten Tournament championship to her resume as the Bruins ran through conference play unblemished at 18-0 and rattled off 31 straight wins to end the season, culminating in avenging their only loss to Texas in the Final Four and knocking off women’s basketball powerhouse South Carolina in the national title game.
Advertisement
Cori Close is also the only UCLA women’s basketball coach to reach 300 career wins, climbing toward the top 100 on the all-time wins list in women’s college basketball. She’s done so while producing plenty of WNBA players, including six 2026 WNBA Draft selections.
The next challenge is replacing those players and keeping the momentum going for the foreseeable future after taking the program to new heights.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ucla as UCLA’s Cori Close Earns Contract Extension After National Title.
