Cori Close’s contract with the UCLA Bruins was still running through the 2028-29 season. But after winning both hers and the program’s first-ever NCAA national championship, there has now been a review, a deserved financial upgrade.

On Tuesday, May 12, just 37 days after leading the Bruins to their first-ever national championship, the program officially announced a new contract for the UCLA coach. A four-year extension that keeps Close locked in as the head coach in Westwood through the 2029-30 season. The deal reportedly boosts her annual salary to around $2 million per year, placing her among the highest-paid figures in women’s college basketball. 

Speaking on the extension, Cori Close expressed her gratitude toward the university leadership. “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 news release. “I love being here in Westwood, and I am so excited for what the future holds. And I hope we can continue to make our Bruin faithful proud.”

Cori Close has now spent 33 years of her life as a college basketball coach. Interestingly, she began her journey as an assistant coach with the UCLA Bruins. After that, she took another assistant coaching role at UC Santa Barbara from 1995 to 2004. She then moved on to a head coaching role at Florida State before returning to UCLA, this time as head coach in 2011.

Throughout all of those coaching stints, Close had unfortunately never won a national championship, and neither had the UCLA program as a whole. However, after taking over in 2011, she guided the Bruins through a steady 15-season journey of growth and development, leading the team to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and compiling a 358-144 overall record. That journey has now finally ended with a national championship. And that championship did not come easy at all. The Bruins had to face a strong Dawn Staley-led South Carolina Gamecocks team. Yet somehow, they still pulled off a dominant 79–51 blowout victory.

However, according to UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond, this contract extension was not tied solely to Close’s championship achievement. For him, it had more to do with the culture and leadership she has consistently brought to the program. As he explained, “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 help develop her players into the best versions of themselves.”

For Jarmond, the UCLA program is fortunate to have Cori Close leading the team, and they remain excited about the future ahead. Close also appears extremely confident in where the Bruins are heading moving forward. “I’ve been doing this for 33 years. This is the most intentionally hardworking group of people in terms of being prepared for the pro level. They’re ready,” she said.

Taking Close’s word for it, we might just be seeing the Bruins make another deep NCAA Tournament run next season. Or perhaps even go all the way once again. 

Breaking Down Cori Close’s New UCLA Contract Compared to Her Previous Deal

Interestingly, Cori Close’s previous contract, the one this new agreement now replaces, was only about a year ago. That deal was originally set to run through the 2028-29 season and carried an average annual pay of $877,500. The contract also included several performance-related bonuses, including a $5,000 national championship bonus and a $20,000 academic benchmark bonus, and other performance-based incentives. But altogether, under that previous deal, Close was still the lowest-paid coach in the 2026 Final Four. She earned less than half of what Dawn Staley and Kim Mulkey were making at the time.

With this new four-year deal, however, Cori Close now sits among the top 10 highest-paid women’s basketball coaches nationally. Her base earnings jumped from $877,500 directly to $1.2 million annually. Add media and talent fees, and her guaranteed average annual compensation effectively doubles to around $2 million per season.

During UCLA’s championship-winning 2025-26 season, Close actually maxed out the entire incentive structure attached to her previous contract. She triggered all 11 performance-based incentives under the agreement, adding an extra $180,000 to her earnings. The breakdown of the incentive triggers in the new contract is not public, but the updated deal is likely to scale up using the same bonus structures.

If she manages to max out the incentive structure again under this new deal, her overall yearly earnings could rise even further beyond the $2 million compensation package. Delivering a program’s first national championship can really change finances.