UCLA Anderson School of Management honored Cori Close with the 2026 John Wooden Global Leadership Award, recognizing the UCLA women’s basketball coach for leadership on and off the court. The ceremony also connected her coaching approach to student-athlete development, the influence of John Wooden, and fellowship support for UCLA Anderson students.
Close, who earned a Master of Educational Leadership and Administration from UCLA in 1995, has served as the Michael Price Family UCLA Women’s Head Basketball Coach since 2011. UCLA Anderson School of Management presented the award at a gala dinner at Pauley Pavilion attended by more than 500 people. The school said Close was selected for her leadership, commitment to developing student-athletes as people, and values-based coaching philosophy.
The award, first presented in 2008, recognizes a leader whose style and community service reflect the performance, integrity, and ethical values associated with Wooden. The release says the award was last presented to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian. Close’s relationship with Wooden began in 1993, when she joined UCLA’s women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach. UCLA Anderson School says that connection helped shape her philosophy.
UCLA Anderson Recognizes Leadership Beyond Results
Close’s 2026 season included a 37–1 record and the UCLA women’s basketball program’s first NCAA championship. She was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and received multiple national coach of the year honors. More than 30 years after starting her coaching career as a UCLA assistant, she also became the first coach in the women’s basketball program’s history to surpass 300 victories.
Those results were part of the award story, but UCLA Anderson School also highlighted how Close leads. UCLA Anderson said she was recognized for helping athletes develop as people and for a coaching philosophy shaped in part by her personal relationship with Wooden. Close recalled that he rarely supplied direct solutions when she brought him coaching problems. Instead, she said, he asked questions that helped her examine her values and how she was equipped to lead.
“I don’t give advice. I only share my opinion,” Close recalled Wooden telling her. She said he more often asked questions that empowered her to become a better thinker and lead in a way that fit her personality. She described the lessons as a way to pursue excellence without tearing athletes down or relying on fear.
At the banquet, Brian Cornell, the 2022 award recipient and executive chair of Target Inc.’s board, spoke with Close about leadership, the championship season, and Wooden’s influence. Asked how she turns individual talent into a team, Close said, “You can’t have a committed team unless you have a connected team.” She described a leader’s job as creating an environment where people feel “safe, seen and heard,” then celebrating the behavior the team wants to encourage.
Wooden’s Lessons Continue Through Student Fellowships
Close also reflected on what Wooden might have said about the honor. “Don’t let it go to your head,” she imagined him saying. She hoped he would smile and feel that the time he spent with her had been worthwhile.
Other speakers connected Wooden’s legacy with the effect leaders can have on people beyond a team. UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt told Close that exceptional coaches leave a mark on those they lead and, through them, on wider communities. Marques Johnson, who played on Wooden’s final championship team in 1975, said Wooden created camaraderie and taught that a coach’s most important responsibility was to love players.
UCLA Anderson School of Management said net proceeds from the event support fellowships for students who embody Wooden’s leadership ideals and commitment to improving others’ lives. Three students were named 2026 John Wooden Leadership Fellows: Coco (Hsiu-Wen) Cheng, Caleigh Hernandez, and Nisha Viswanathan, M.D., FACP. Each will receive a $35,000 fellowship. Professor Emeritus Al Osborne presented the fellowships and said character and how a person achieves something matter alongside the achievement.
The ceremony also recognized the 2024 and 2025 fellows: Ishan Asokan, M.D., M.Sc.; Laura Shunk; Ike Zhan; Emma Harvey; Lorenzo Lewis; and Smruthi Swaminathan. Juhie Rathor, a 2023 fellow, introduced them and described empathy, care, and respect as central to Wooden’s view of leadership.
The award program extends Wooden’s leadership principles through UCLA Anderson’s Wooden Global Leadership Program. The school says the program carries those principles and Wooden’s Pyramid of Success into the classroom. Its next step is already reflected in the fellowships: the 2026 recipients will receive support tied to leadership ideals and service to others.
For more on the source announcement, read the UCLA Anderson award announcement. Her Forward readers can also explore coverage of women’s workplace recognition, a women in leadership award, and a women-led workplace honor.
