The success of a team depends on the coaching staff behind it.
And the Bruins’ staff continues to strengthen.
UCLA women’s basketball announced the addition of Noelle Quinn as an assistant coach for the 2026-27 season Wednesday. Quinn played for the Bruins from 2004 to 2007 before continuing her career in the WNBA.
In her time at UCLA, she became the first player in program history to tally 1,700 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists – marks that have since been reached only by former Bruin guards Charisma Osborne and Kiki Rice.
“I’m from LA, so being an LA native and being able to once again be home, that’s fulfilling within itself, but the full circle moment comes back to what I learned here as an athlete,” Quinn said in a press release. “It is not about the name on the back of the jersey but the four letters across your chest, and what that stands for and means.”
She sits fourth in program history for total points, eighth for total rebounds and seventh for total assists.
Selected fourth overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2007 WNBA Draft, Quinn played on five teams in her 12 seasons in the league. Her final stop was the Seattle Storm, where she won the 2018 WNBA Championship.
“She has won championships in college and the WNBA as a player, and she has helped capture a WNBA championship as a coach,” coach Cori Close said in the press release. “Tactically and developmentally, she is elite! But I am most excited about who she is and how she will help us create champions from the inside, out. She is as fine of a human as any have met since being at UCLA. I could not be more thrilled to add her to our staff!”
After concluding her career with the 2018 championship, she was named assistant coach of the Storm entering the 2019 season and associate head coach before the 2020 season – another championship year for the Storm.
Quinn became head coach starting with the 2021 season, a position she held for five seasons. She then went to coach Breeze BC, a member of Unrivaled, in 2026. In the 3×3 league, her team went 6-8, dropping to the eventual champions in the semifinals.
She is also an assistant coach of the Canadian Senior Women’s National Team, the squad that defeated UCLA 69-55 on July 22.
Quinn is the second addition to the Bruin staff this summer, with Shannon LeBeauf returning to Westwood as the associate head coach entering the 2026-27 season. The latter fills in the gap left by eight-year assistant coach Tasha Brown’s departure to Washington.
The championship experience boasted by Quinn as both a player and coach will be valuable, as UCLA’s lineup will change from last season. With six former Bruins finding new homes in the WNBA, the coaching staff will have to adjust the game plan.
“I’m just honored to be on Cori’s staff, to be able to add value, but also to learn from a championship-level coach whose servant leadership is on full display every day,” Quinn said in the press release. “From how she coaches her team, to how she leads with her staff, how she pours into the community, she is one of the best leaders that I’ve seen and I’m just happy to be able to be in her hemisphere every day.”
