Cori Close reveals she coached in her UCLA jersey in honor of donor Jan Cloyde

Instead of her usual attire, UCLA coach Cori Close wore a jersey as she gave direction from the bench Thursday against Illinois. It was the annual Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness game and she was thinking of a friend who had passed away, Bruins donor Jan Cloyde.

Cloyde had been a generous donor for years to the university in addition to a regular attendee at Bruins women’s basketball games. That allowed her and Close to form a strong friendship before Cloyde unfortunately passed away in July of 2023.

Speaking postgame after the 70-55 win against the Fighting Illini, Close did her best to put into words exactly what was going through her mind.

“I have been really emotional all day,” she said. “I’m wearing my jersey in honor of Jan Cloyde, who is one of our biggest donors. I lost another mentor of mine in the last couple of years to cancer and I just — I don’t know. Pam (Walker) and I were both really emotional earlier today because we knew we were gonna have to write more names on our board today. That’s why this night’s really important. Overall $8 million has been raised for women’s cancer research and we need more. Too many people are dying from this disease. At the same time, I want to honor the thrivers — as I was corrected to call them — that have conquered cancer. It’s so neat to see some of those people and honor them.

“But yeah, for some reason, it just really hit me today. I was really humbled by the battles so many people are fighting for. I have a place in my journal every day that I write names of people that are battling an illness and 90 percent of those are cancer. I pray for them every morning. That’s why these nights are important. We need to keep fighting. We need to keep raising awareness and we need to keep raising money for different cancer researches.”

UCLA held an auction prior to the game for team-signed basketballs, jerseys, exclusive experiences and more, with all proceeds going to the Play4Kay Cancer Fund. It served as an important reminder of the work that is still to be done as well as those who are still battling in their everyday lives.

The Bruins also went on to win Sunday against Iowa, improving their record to 26-1. They’ll next be in action Wednesday against Wisconsin before closing out the regular season against No. 4 USC on Saturday.