LOS ANGELES - No. 2 UCLA (26-1, 16-0) competes against Wisconsin (13-14, 5-11) on Sunday and a win secures sole possession of the Big Ten season title for the Bruins, but that won't be the only reason emotions run high.
Sunday is Senior Day for UCLA, and with the entire starting five and the Bruins' best player off the bench set to graduate, the festivities mark the nearing end of an era that has, especially as of late, been defined by greatness in Westwood. The common threads in this era have been senior guard Kiki Rice and senior forward Gabriela Jaquez.
Rice in particular stands out as a cornerstone for this program. As the 2022 Naismith High School Player of the Year and ESPN's No. 2 prospect, she had the pick of colleges to attend, and chose a UCLA program that had made the NCAA tournament in four of the past five seasons at the time she committed, but missed it again in in the 2021-22 season.
Abraham Perez - The Sporting Tribune
UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) drives to the basket in a game against Michigan State, Sunday February 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.
She made a splash right away by becoming the first college athlete to sign a NIL deal with Jordan brand, and her arrival signaled good things on the horizon for the Bruins.
Rice as the foundation
“I think she’s done exactly what she came here to do. She came to blaze a new trail, to raise a new standard of the program," UCLA head coach Cori Close said. "She came to have a byproduct of that be accomplishing things from a championship standpoint that has not been done here ever, if not for a very long time."
In Rice's three full seasons, the Bruins have been the fourth-seed or higher in the NCAA tournament and made it as far as the Final Four last season before falling to the eventual champion UConn Huskies.
Jordan Teller - The Sporting Tribune
Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins shoots the ball during an NCAA basketball game against the Maryland Terrapins, Sunday January 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
The fact that she and Jaquez have stayed with Close and the Bruins all four years is an exceptional feat in and of itself in today's landscape of the transfer portal and the allure of NIL offers.
Attracting winning pieces
Their careers have been the anchor for UCLA's rise that's since been bolstered by the arrivals of transfers like senior center Lauren Betts, senior guard Gianna Kneepkens and senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker.
All these players, original and transfer, make up the components of possibly the deepest team in the country, and it started with the pairing of Rice and Jaquez.
John Panganiban-The Sporting Tribune
UCLA Bruins Guard Kiki Rice (1) cheering on the team from the sidelines during an NCAA basketball game against Colgate, Sunday November 10th, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
"I always say you can’t have a committed group unless you have a connected group. That really started with Kiki’s commitment and her roommate Gabs [Jaquez] and how that’s trickled down to everybody else that’s joined our program in the meantime," Close said. "I'm just so thankful... It has been really fun to be a part of their process and coach them day-to-day.”
Championship dreams
Although, the job's not finished yet. UCLA is still on the hunt for the program's first national championship in the NCAA era. With the mass graduation of the roster due at the end of the season, it's more crucial than ever to accomplish that goal.
Jordan Teller - The Sporting Tribune
Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins lays the ball up during an NCAA basketball game against the Purdue Boilermakers, Wednesday January 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Sunday will be a time for sentimentality, but it's not the end just yet for Rice or the Bruins. Still, Close's mission is growth first, trophies second, and she wants Rice to be able to appreciate everything she's built with the Bruins over the last four seasons no matter the outcome.
"Of course, she [Rice] would say we’re not done yet, but I just keep talking to her about, 'With what you’ve done, the journey is a lot more important than where the destination ends up," Close said. "I think the better she plays down the stretch is the more she surrenders the outcome and enjoys being present in the process that really she’s helped create."