Cori Close is an America-based women’s basketball head coach serving her tenure at the UCLA Bruins. She was given the responsibility to be Bruins’ head coach in 2011, and before that, she served as an assistant coach at Florida State University. Cori used to play and study at UC Santa Barbara and was the star player for the UCSB Gauchos, serving as the team captain during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. She led her team to appear in NCAA tournaments each of those years.
Early Life
Cori Close is 51 years old and was born on 29th July 1971. She grew up in Milpitas, California, where she developed a deep love for basketball at a young age. She spent much of her childhood playing sports and competing with friends, which helped build her strong work ethic and leadership skills.
Close often credits her family for supporting her dreams and teaching her the value of faith, discipline, and education. As a young athlete, she showed a natural understanding of the game and enjoyed studying strategies, not just playing.
Her passion for teamwork and leadership began early, shaping her future path in coaching. Growing up in a competitive sports environment in California gave her many opportunities to improve her skills and build confidence that later helped her succeed at the college level.
Cori Close Career
College and School Career
Close began with her collegiate career at UCLA, where she had her educational degree, a master’s in administration. She was serving as the first staff of then-now head coach Kathy Olivier in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. While at UC Santa Barbara, Close was a four-year starting point guard, and she led the team as a captain during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
She led her team to appear in NCAA Tournaments and earned herself a first-team All-Big West selection and the MVP of the 1993 conference tournament. She became the first player in the school’s history to earn the rank of top 10 in seven Gaucho statistical categories.
Cori had a career-high 8.3 assists per game in 1993, making the school record, and was ranked among the top 10 marks in the nation that season. On 30th April 2005, she was inducted into the UC Santa Barbara Athletics Hall of Fame.
Coaching
Close began her professional career as UCSB’s player development coordinator. Her achievements led to a 98 percent graduation rate, 15 professional players overseas, seven WNBA players, 12 Big West Conference MVPs, one second-team All-American, and nine district All-Americans.
She held the responsibility for all offensive tactics, offensive instruction, and game-time decisions, which further helped the team earn and achieve eight NCAA appearances. She served nine seasons (1995-2004), at her alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, class of 1993, and after that, she joined the FSU staff. During her tenure of coaching at FSU, her team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Cori Close Biography |
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|---|---|
| Real Name | Cori Rashel Close |
| Birth Date | 29 July 1971 |
| Age (as of 2026) | 54 Years |
| Birthplace | Milpitas, California, United States |
| Profession | Basketball coach |
| College | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Qualification | Graduate |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 7” – in Centimeters – 170 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 67 kg – in Pounds – 147 lbs |
| Hair Color | Light Brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
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Family |
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| Father | Don Close |
| Mother | Patti Close |
| Sister | Amity Wicks, Santa Barbara, Adell Gillman |
| Brother | – |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | Single |
| Affair | No |
| Who is her husband/boyfriend? | None |
Personal Life
Cori Close is not married and does not currently have a husband. Public profiles and official information show that she has kept her personal romantic life private and has not announced any marriage or long-term partner.
In interviews and “Meet Coach Cori Close” features, she has even playfully mentioned finding a husband as an item on her bucket list, but there is no confirmed information about her being in a relationship or having a boyfriend.
Social Media
Cori Close is available on various social media profiles including Twitter, and LinkedIn, and has also been highlighted by the Wikipedia page. On Twitter, she goes by the handle name – @CoachCoriClose, where she has got 28K followers as of 20th March 2023.
On LinkedIn, she describes her tenure as – Assistant Coach at UC Santa Barbara (from May 1995 – May 2004), Assistant Head Coach at Florida State University (Jun 2004 – Apr 2011), and lastly or presently, she is serving as Head Of Women’s Basketball Coach at UCLA since April 2011. She has a fan page by the name – Cori Close Camps on Facebook, having at least 66 followers.
Cori Close Salary & Net Worth
Cori Close’s annual compensation as UCLA head coach is about $774,722, a solid figure but well below the very top tier in the sport. At the top of the women’s game is Dawn Staley, who earns about $4 million per year at University of South Carolina, making her the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball history.
Coaches like Kim Mulkey at LSU and Geno Auriemma at UConn earn roughly $3.3 million annually, placing them among the top three highest-paid in the sport. Other high-paid coaches include Vic Schaefer at Texas ($2.3 M), Brenda Frese at Maryland (~$1.9 M), and several others in the $1.2 M–$1.8 M range.
Trivia
- Under the guidance and coaching of Cori Close, 2019 to 2020 was a historic year for Bruins. During that time, UCLA won 13 games of the campaign and set a record for consecutive wins at the start of the season.
- Cori earned her 200th career win while with Bruins at Arizona State on 26th December 2020.
- She was probably the first player to make history in UCSB with a record of more than 1,000 points and 500 assists for a career.
- Cori has two dogs and her FSU team named them Mocha and Latte.
