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UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close with legendary Bruins coach John Wooden. Courtesy of Cori Close
Lately, there has been little besides good days.
What else would there be? Close and her team have manifested the ideals of perhaps the most legendary coach in sports history, putting process above results, character above recognition.
It’s probably no coincidence that they’ve also mirrored the dominance Wooden achieved while collecting a record 10 national championships.
Winners of a program-record 25 consecutive games, including a 51-point demolition of Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament championship, UCLA (31–1) is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a trendy pick to win it all.
The winningest women’s coach in UCLA history, Close has wondered what Wooden might say about those who keep telling her that this is her year, that it’s championship or bust for a super team that might feature six players taken in the first round of the WNBA draft.
