This post was updated May 12 at 10:45 p.m.

Cori Close spent the past two seasons picking up national coaching honors and championship rings – accolades that will now secure her spot in Westwood for the next four seasons. 

UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close signed a new contract through the 2029-30 season, the team announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon. The news comes just over a month after the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year led the Bruins to their first national championship in the NCAA era. 

“We are extremely proud of what Cori has accomplished in leading our women’s basketball program,” UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond said in a written statement. “Winning a national championship is a tremendous achievement, but what truly stands out with Cori is the character, leadership and daily commitment she and her staff bring to developing student-athletes into the best versions of themselves”  

In addition to the four-year extension, Close also received a raise that brings her annual compensation to nearly $2 million. The 15-year head honcho received pay over $1 million for the 2025-26 season before being rewarded performance bonuses that nearly reached an additional $200,000 after her team’s championship run, the California Post reported. 

The UC has only released payment information for its employees through the 2024 calendar year, during which Close received $300,000 in regular pay and $583,482 in other pay for a gross amount of $883,482. 

The announcement of Close’s contract extension comes amid an offseason in which the 2026 Big Ten Coach of the Year and her staff brought in five transfers, including Addy Brown – one of the nation’s top portal prospects.

[Related: Iowa State forward Addy Brown announces transfer to UCLA women’s basketball]

Additionally, the Bruins lost no players to the portal, making Close the only Big Ten coach to retain every eligible player on her roster.

The six Bruins who departed Close’s roster due to graduation were all drafted into the WNBA – the first time a single program has produced that many draftees in the same year. All 11 former Bruins playing in the WNBA, including the recent selections, were retained on rosters ahead of the 2026 season.

[Related: UCLA women’s basketball makes history with most draft picks]

“I am so grateful to Chancellor Frenk and Martin Jarmond for the opportunity to continue teaching and mentoring the young women who choose UCLA,” Close said in a written statement. “I love being here in Westwood, and I am so excited for what the future holds.” 

During Close’s tenure in Westwood, she has led the Bruins to their first Final Four appearances and NCAA title in addition to the program’s longest win streak and consecutive weeks atop the AP Poll. She boasts a 358-144 record at UCLA’s helm as the only coach in program history to have surpassed 300 wins. 

Close also broke records off the court this season when the Bruins earned a program-high 3.714 cumulative GPA for the 2026 winter quarter.

Before leading UCLA, Close was the associate head coach at Florida State, where she helped the program reach the NCAA tournament in all seven of her years on staff. She was previously on the coaching staff at UCLA from 1994-95 before joining UC Santa Barbara as an assistant coach in 1995. 

“It fills me with such joy to share this with our village,” Close said in a written statement. “I hope we can continue to make our Bruin faithful proud.”