During my freshman year of high school, I watched a WSLAM video showcasing a day in the life of Kiki Rice.
Rice was the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2022, per ESPN, and had not made her college commitment at the time.
In the video, the five-star said she was looking for a good education and the chance to compete for a national championship.
After hearing this, I assumed she was going to choose Stanford.
The Cardinal were the reigning national champions at the time and were coached by women’s basketball legend Tara VanDerveer. Lauren Betts, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2022, had committed to Stanford the previous January.
But Rice chose UCLA.
I was perplexed.
The Bruins had lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and would be excluded from the 68-team pack entirely the following season.
How could you win a national championship if you couldn’t even qualify for the tournament?
Looking back on Rice’s decision more than four years later, it is clear she believed in coach Cori Close’s vision.
Close built this winning program brick by brick.
It seems ridiculous to say a head honcho who won Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year in 2025 is underrated, but it’s true.
Close’s ability to gather talent, especially in the transfer portal, often goes underappreciated.
Her national championship vision started with UCLA’s 2022 recruiting class of Rice, No. 19 recruit Gabriela Jaquez and No. 22 recruit Londynn Jones.
(Aidan Sun/Daily Bruin senior staff)
The Bruins were unranked to begin the 2022-23 campaign but peaked at No. 8 in the polls that season. Although the squad was eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen, Close had demonstrated her ability to turn the program around.
She had begun the climb to the top, and she was not slowing down.
That offseason, Close was able to land Betts from the transfer portal. Angela Dugalić, who transferred from Oregon two years prior, returned from her year spent medically redshirting. Now, the expectations for the Bruins were high.
Too high.
UCLA entered the year ranked fourth overall, peaking at second. Despite this, they were once again eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen.
But if there is one thing to note about Close, it is that she knows how to play the portal.
In the summer of 2024, not a single Bruin from Close’s core group entered the portal – something rare in this era of collegiate sports.
In fact, she gained two top players in Janiah Barker from Texas A&M and Charlisse Leger-Walker from Washington State, the latter of whom would medically redshirt her first season in Westwood.
2025 was supposed to be UCLA’s year.
The squad went undefeated for 23 games, which was the longest stretch in program history at the time. Close’s system was untouched, leading UCLA to a 15-point victory over then-No. 1 South Carolina – the reigning national champions. UCLA climbed the ranks to the No. 1 spot – its first time in that position in program history. People started talking, and they started paying attention.
Then came the crosstown rivals.
UCLA fell to USC twice in Big Ten conference play during the regular season. The Trojans were the only team that could even touch them. But the Bruins pulled through in the title game, taking down the Trojans to claim the Big Ten Tournament championship in their first year in the conference. They made program history again when they were named the No. 1 overall seed entering March Madness.
But UConn got the better of the Westwood crew in March.
A crushing 85-51 loss in the program’s first Final Four in the March Madness era sent the Bruins home with a lot to be desired.
Then, the spring of 2025 was chaotic.
Close lost her entire freshman class to the portal. She lost Jones, who had been a Bruin since her first collegiate season, to USC and Barker to Tennessee.
But amid the swarm of departures came a beam of light.
Graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens committed to spend her final year of eligibility with UCLA. She would become the final piece of the puzzle Close had built over the previous three seasons.
But the experts were doubting.
UCLA did not top the polls once throughout the 2026 season, despite losing just one game to a fellow top-four program. But this did not stop the Bruins.
An undefeated Big Ten regular season led to the team claiming its second Big Ten Tournament title in as many years. Close won her second consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year accolade, but she was unable to secure National Coach of the Year honors.
No. 2 overall UCLA conquered the Final Four hurdle and trounced South Carolina for its first national championship title in the March Madness era. The win marked the third-largest blowout in NCAA women’s national championship history.
But Close did not only prepare her team to win a collegiate title. She primed her players for the pros.
Six Bruins from the 2025-26 senior class are actively rostered on WNBA teams.
And when people took note of this, Close’s reach in the transfer portal expanded even more. In April, guard Elina Aarnisalo transferred back to UCLA after spending a season at the University of North Carolina – just two years removed from competing for the Bruins as a freshman.
In the current era of college sports, a coach who is able to play the portal is more important than ever.
And Close has proved she can.
Four of the six players who scored in the national championship game were transfers. Everyone on last season’s roster who has maintained eligibility is committed to staying at UCLA.
With five players entering from the transfer portal and Close at the helm, the Bruins should not be counted out.
Close always has a plan – which I should have recognized back in 2021.
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