Sacrifice and selflessness define coach Cori Close's UCLA championship run

PHOENIX — “Let me show you who Cori really is,” a UCLA staffer says as he pushes the door open to the UCLA coaches’ temporary locker room at the Final Four arena.Around the corner, there’s a collection of recyclable cans and bottles that Close has picked up and set atop a mini-fridge.In the next hour, those cans and bottles will be packed into a bag so they can take the flight back to Los Angeles with the newly crowned national champion UCLA Bruins. Behind Close’s efforts, the entire team regularly gathers these bottles and cans after practices and games. Staffers then take turns returning the recyclables for 5 cents apiece, and later, that money is pooled and donated to one of the Bruins’ chosen non-profit organizations. Recently, the UCLA women’s basketball team paid for school uniforms and a computer for girls in Tijuana with money collected from these recyclables. The school later sent a photo of the girls watching one of the Bruins’ games this season.Advertisement