Oklahoma State Cowgirls vs. UCLA Bruins: Game Highlights (1:19)
Oklahoma State Cowgirls vs. UCLA Bruins: Game Highlights (1:19)
Mar 27, 2026, 11:05 AM ET
There’s been plenty of reaction to UCLA coach Cori Close saying she doesn’t know how much longer she can continue in the new NCAA environment.
“I’ve never been as tired as I’ve been in the last two years, and it’s made me think how much longer I can do this,” said Close, who will lead No. 1 seed UCLA against fourth-seeded Minnesota on Friday in the Sacramento Region 2 semifinal. “And I’m just being transparent with you about that. There are so many things that are harder, and we keep losing incredible people on the men’s and the women’s side.”
Louisville coach Jeff Walz didn’t sound close to retirement when the 54-year-old in his 19th season with the Cardinals was told of Close’s comments.
“I’m friends with Cori,” Walz said. “My favorite line, I would tell her, if you don’t like your job, find a new job. I mean, I’m listening this morning at 4:20 as the workers outside my window at the hotel in the street are working. I mean, you choose your profession. If you don’t like it, find a new profession.”
Walz was speaking before 8 a.m. Texas time Friday morning, the day before the Cardinals play Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the Fort Worth Regional 3.
“I mean, of course, it’s a lot of work, but we chose to do it and we get compensated for it,” Walz said. “I don’t think anybody is going to feel too sorry for us that you might be tired. I’m tired, too, but who is not?”
Close has been coaching for 33 years, 15 at UCLA, but NIL and the transfer portal have drastically changed the game.
Some longtime coaches have stepped down over the past few seasons for a variety of reasons, including for health issues. Others have mulled retirement.
Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico said coaching fatigue is less about age and more about adaptation.
“A few years ago when all this started to come into play, I knew as a coach and I talked to our players and I talked to our staff, times are changing,” Barnes Arico said. “We need to evolve. We need to grow. We need to step up to the challenges, because if we can’t, the game, the landscape, all of it is going to pass us by.”
While Close was outspoken on the changing landscape, Duke coach Kara Lawson deflected discussing the state of the game.
“I don’t know that I’m looking to be, like, the voice of the sport or anything like that. That’s not a goal of mine. I think there’s plenty of other people out there that do a great job of being that,” she said. “For me, I’ve been in college basketball, I guess this is my sixth year. When I came, everything started changing. So I don’t have a view of the old way because I wasn’t in coaching the old way. Just change has been what’s been standard for me.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
