Meet Coach Cori Close

  • Alma Mater: UC Santa Barbara (1993)
  • Four-year starting point guard at UCSB Captained the 1992 and 1993 teams which each advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament
  • First player in UCSB history to record more than 1,000 points and 500 assists for a career
  • Inducted into the UCSB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005
  • In 1992, set an NCAA record for consecutive made free throws in a NCAA Tournament game
  • Coaching history: Associate Head Coach - Florida State (2004-2011), Assistant Coach at UC Santa Barbara for nine seasons serving as the Associate Head Coach for the last three (2001-2004)
  • Coached in 15 consecutive NCAA basketball tournaments
  • Coached 13 WNBA players and numerous other professional international athletes 
  • All-time coaching record of 426-147
  • Teams have won 11 conference championships
  • Began coaching career at UCLA as an assistant coach in 1993
  • Earned a master’s degree from UCLA in educational administration in 1994
  • Mentored by John Wooden for over 10 years
  • Nickname: “Rocky”, Corn Dawg, “Closey”
  • Family: Patti and Don Close (parents) and, Amity Wicks (sister) currently live in Santa Barbara, and Adell Gillman (sister) lives in Sacramento
  • Game day tradition: Workout, pray for the team, recruit (game planning complete) 
  • Favorite basketball memory: Winning conference championship as a player.  Beating Stanford at Stanford in NCAA’s as a coach.
  • Favorite hangout in LA: My back patio and Santa Monica Beach
  • Favorite foods: Sushi, shrimp scampi at Cheese Cake Factory, and Coach Jenny’s chicken enchiladas
  • One thing on your bucket list: Go to Israel, find a husband 
  • Who would you most like to meet? Mother Teresa, Tony Dungie, my husband 
  • Do you have any pets? Dogs…Mocha and Latte (My FSU team named them)
"I have always attributed much of my basketball success to Coach Close. Coach Close's ability to develop skills, teach the game, and make me feel cared about through college is the reason where I am today."
​- Lindsey Taylor, UCSB
"Passionate, loyal, open-minded, and friendship is what you get when dealing with Coach Close, along with developing the proper mindset of a champion. So privileged to have been a pupil of hers and I wouldn't have learned many life lessons on or off the court if it had not been for her. She's pretty tight!" 
- Angel Gray, FS
“Coach Cori is a unlike any coach I've had in that she teaches us how to be better women. She does so while demonstrating her ability to take advantage of individual players’ strengths and weaknesses while combining them with the rest of the teams." - Thea Lemberger, UCLA