Cori Close should be pleased with herself.
Three athletes recruited by the UCLA women’s basketball head coach — two incoming freshmen and a grad transfer — medaled at various levels of the 2025 FIBA Women’s world tournaments, a testament to the strong program Close is building.
Close’s 2025 recruiting class was ranked 12th in division I by ESPN in May. The Bruins scored big with the commitment of five-star power forward and No. 2 overall prospect Sienna Betts. Betts, 6-foot-4, won gold with the U.S. Junior National Team at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup after a dominant seven wins.
The power forward’s performance gave a nice preview of what Bruins fans can expect to see this season. Betts’ 10 rebounds per game average ranked second-best in the tournament. She averaged 14.6 points per contest, a tournament 11th-best, while shooting 58.7% from the floor. Betts is the younger sister of current UCLA center Lauren Betts.
Guard Lena Bilić, who earned bronze with the Croatians in U18 play, will join the younger Betts as a freshman in Westwood this season. Bilić was named to the tournament’s All-Star Five and was Division B’s scoring leader, averaging 23.6 points per game. She recorded six rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game as Croatia went 6-1 overall.
The third incoming Bruin to medal was Utah graduate transfer Gianna Kneepkens, earning gold in her Team USA debut at the Women’s AmeriCup 2025. The 6-foot guard averaged 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while recording a formidable .548/.500/1.000 split through seven contests.
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UCLA’s recruiting class is only outranked in the Big Ten by No. 9 Illinois.
Securing No. 2 Betts likely boosted the Bruins’ rankings, but not enough to best Fighting Illini coach Shauna Green. Illinois secured four top-100 prospects this offseason, including point guard Destiny Jackson (No. 29), and forwards Cearah Parchment (No. 40), Manuella Alves-Fernandez (No. 48) and Naomi Benson (No. 96).