Coach Cori Close studies basketball at every court she steps on

Cori Close can’t spell for her life. From 2004-2011, scouting reports, memos and emails from the then-associate head coach all arrived to Florida State coach Sue Semrau sprinkled with errors. “Thank God for spell check now,” Semrau said. Close might never have mastered spelling, but even heading into her sixth year at the helm of […]

Family, dedication at the heart of freshman guard Lonzo Ball’s game

Lonzo Ball was born to ball. No really, just ask his father. “When I realized he would be good at basketball?” LaVar Ball asked. “You probably don’t want to hear this – as soon as he came out the womb. I told him he was born to go pro.” It was all written in Lonzo […]

UCLA women’s basketball season opens Friday against the Tigers

UCLA women’s basketball is back. The Bruins open the regular season Friday night against University of the Pacific. The Tigers are fresh off a dominating performance Friday against San Francisco State, a game they won 91-42. UCLA is also hot off a 35-point victory on Nov. 3 against Westmont. The Bruins enter the season ranked […]

UCLA women’s basketball adjusts strategies with 2016-2017 lineup

Nirra Fields left UCLA with a gaping hole. After her final game last year, a Sweet 16 loss to Texas, the three-time All-Conference guard graduated after having taken the Bruins farther than they had gone in 16 years. And now she’s gone. While the team is now ranked No. 9 in the nation, favored to […]

Men’s basketball looks to improved defense for successful season

It’s a new year, with many new high-profile recruits coming in, but the same question remains for the Bruins. Can they play defense? The UCLA men’s basketball team struggled to stop anyone – both on the perimeter and in the paint – last season. In Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings, the Bruins finished 11th […]

Men’s basketball gains depth, expects improved defense in 2016-2017 season

The passes were there, the shooting was there, now UCLA men’s basketball is focusing on what went wrong for them it year – defense. The Bruins gave up an average of 76.7 points a game last season behind an inconsistent defense that switched back and forth from man-to-man to zone. “We’re going to be a […]