LOS ANGELES — Cori Close has been around the block in Westwood.
Entering her 15th season as UCLA women’s basketball coach, Close may not have had a roster as talented as the one she brings in for the 2025-2026 season, and that’s coming off a season in which the program reached new heights in its first Final Four berth.
But that’s not all.
Close chuckled as she held court with the media for the first time during the preseason a few weeks ago. The Associated Press Coach of the Year last season – among a clean sweep of national coaching awards – was asked how she spent her summer.
Close admitted she was having more fun than her players, a group full of preseason watch list Bruins and a few of whom could be first-round WNBA draft picks come season’s end.
“It was probably the best summer I’ve had with a group in 32 years of coaching,” Close said.
Well, summer break is now over and No. 3 UCLA will begin its season against San Diego State on Monday (7 p.m. tip) at the inaugural Orange County Hoops Classic at Honda Center in Anaheim. It’s full steam ahead for the Bruins, who were picked to finish first in the Big Ten in 2025 by the media and coaches.
For a team with national championship aspirations, UCLA has the experience – on paper – to match its ambitions.
Welcome back, senior center Lauren Betts. Welcome back, senior guard Kiki Rice.
And welcome to the Pauley Pavilion hardwood, graduate student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, the former Washington State star who arrived at UCLA last year but sat out the season rehabbing a torn ACL. Same goes to graduate student guard Gianna Kneepkens, a Utah transfer.
Add in senior stalwarts guard/forward Gabriela Jaquez, forward Angela Dugalić and forward Timea Gardiner – who will join the team after the start of the season as she recovers from knee surgery – and at many points during the upcoming season, the Bruins will be playing five senior-or-older players on the floor.
“I think the experience is huge,” said Rice, who averaged 12.8 points and 5.0 assists a year ago and is a preseason All-Big Ten honoree. “I mean, we have a ton of veteran leadership all across the board. And honestly, every single position, we have someone who’s been there and been in college and had a ton of experience, and I think that just helps take the pressure off everyone.”
The 6-foot-7 Betts, who surged into a starring role during UCLA’s 34-3 season a year ago, in which the Bruins earned a No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time, will attempt to one-up her 2024-2025 season in which she became the first player in program history to record more than 600 points, 300 rebounds and 100 blocks in a season.
Alongside Betts – who will now have Kneepkens and her 44.8% accuracy from beyond the arc last season as an option when she gets double-teamed – in Westwood is younger sister Sienna Betts. The 6-foot-4 forward, who is the second-ranked incoming freshman in the country according to ESPN, will miss the season opener, but joins the Bruins with fellow first-years guard/forward Lena Bilić and guard Christina Karamouzi.
“I would say the biggest piece of advice – just giving herself grace,” Lauren Betts said when asked about her sister’s transition to Westwood. “Coming in as a freshman is really hard, especially when you have so many upperclassmen who are really talented. … just showing up and being a sponge, which I think she’s done a great job of.”
At the last open-media practice Tuesday, Close said she didn’t feel her team’s defense was where it needed to be with the season starting just days away. UCLA will face early tests against No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 11 North Carolina in nonconference play.
And while UCLA might not be where Close wants her team to be quite yet – with the Aztecs as the first team on the docket Monday – the sky is the limit for the Bruins in 2025.
Rice is sure of it. Toss aside the awards, preseason hullabaloo and noise, all she and the Bruins want is to win.
“I think one of the things that makes this team special, we’re not focused on individual accolades or stats and everything,” Rice said. “We’re focused on winning and just playing as a collective group.”