UCLA's Triumphant Journey in the Big Ten Conference

The UCLA Bruins have a rich history in collegiate athletics, marked by numerous championships and legendary coaches. From their early days in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) to their recent move to the Big Ten Conference, the Bruins have consistently strived for excellence. This article explores UCLA's basketball program, highlighting its historical achievements, legendary figures, and recent successes in the Big Ten Conference.

A Legacy of Excellence: UCLA Basketball Through the Years

The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, representing the University of California, Los Angeles, has been a dominant force in college basketball since its establishment in 1919. As a member of the Big Ten Conference, the program boasts a record 11 NCAA titles, a testament to its enduring legacy of excellence.

Early Years and the Rise of a Dynasty

In 1919, Fred Cozens became the first head coach of the UCLA basketball and football teams. He coached the basketball team for two seasons, finishing with an overall record of 21-4. Caddy Works took over as head coach from 1921 to 1939, guiding the Bruins to a 173-159 record.

The John Wooden Era: A Dynasty Unrivaled

From 1948 to 1975, John Wooden, known as the "Wizard of Westwood," transformed UCLA into a basketball powerhouse. Prior to Wooden's arrival, UCLA had only won two conference championships in the previous 18 years. In his first season, Wooden guided a UCLA team that had finished with a 12-13 record the previous year to a 22-7 record-then the most wins in a season in program history-and the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Southern Division championship. In his second season, Wooden led the Bruins to a 24-7 record and the PCC championship. The Bruins would win the division title in each of the next two seasons and the conference title in the latter season. In 1955-56, Wooden guided the Bruins to their first undefeated PCC conference title and a 17-game winning streak that only came to an end in the 1956 NCAA Tournament at the hands of a University of San Francisco team that featured Bill Russell.

Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national titles in 12 seasons, from 1964 to 1975, including an unprecedented seven consecutive titles from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record four times (1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973). His teams were known for their discipline, precision, and unwavering focus.

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By 1962 the probation was no longer in place and Wooden had returned the Bruins to the top of their conference (now the Pac-12 Conference). This time, however, they would take the next step, and go on to unleash a run of dominance unparalleled in the history of college sports. Wooden's team repeated as national champions the following season before the squad fell briefly in 1966 when it finished second in the conference to Oregon State. UCLA was ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament that year because in those days only conference champions went to the tournament. However, the Bruins' incarnation returned with a vengeance in 1967 with the arrival of sophomore All-America and MVP Lew Alcindor.

In January 1968, UCLA took its 47-game winning streak to the Astrodome in Houston, where Alcindor, below par with an injured eye, squared off against Elvin Hayes in the Game of the Century, which was the nation's first nationally televised regular season college basketball game. Houston upset UCLA 71-69 behind Hayes' 39 points. In a post-game interview, Wooden stated, "We have to start over." They did, and went undefeated the rest of the year, avenging Houston 101-69 in the semi-final rematch of the NCAA tournament en route to the national championship. Hayes, who had been averaging 37.7 points per game, was held to only 10 points.

The emergence of the Bruins under Wooden vastly increased the program's popularity. Since 1932, the Bruins had played at the Men's Gym. It normally seated 2,400, but had been limited to 1,500 since 1955 by order of the city fire marshal. This forced games to be moved to Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and other venues around Los Angeles when larger crowds were expected-an increasing inconvenience since the Bruins' first national title. Wooden coached his final game in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1975, when UCLA trounced Stanford 93-59.

During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the "Wizard of Westwood", although he personally disdained the nickname. He gained lasting fame at UCLA by winning 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, which included seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also had a then-record winning streak of 88 games and four perfect 30-0 seasons. They also won 38 straight games in NCAA Tournaments and 98 straight home game wins at Pauley Pavilion. Wooden was named NCAA College Basketball's "Coach of the Year" in 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. In 1967, he was named the Henry Iba Award USBWA College Basketball Coach of the Year. In 1972, he shared Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award with Billie Jean King.

The Gilbert Controversy

During Wooden's time at UCLA, and after his retirement in 1975, he faced criticism for the program's relationship with local businessman and booster Sam Gilbert, known by many of Wooden's players as "Papa Sam." Gilbert, a multi-millionaire contractor, was known for forging close financial relationships with UCLA players, supplying them with cars, clothes, stereos, travel, and apartments, as well as allegedly arranging abortions for players' girlfriends. A 1981 Los Angeles Times investigation, interviewing 45 people affiliated with the basketball program, revealed the extent of Gilbert's involvement, describing him as "a one-man clearinghouse who has enabled players and their families to receive goods and services usually at big discounts and sometimes free." The Times investigation found that Gilbert's involvement in the program began in 1967, when UCLA stars Alcindor and Lucius Allen were considering transferring to Michigan State. They approached former UCLA star Willie Naulls, who introduced them to Gilbert. Gilbert met with the two players, and both remained at UCLA. Alcindor, later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, said later that he would have stayed regardless but called Gilbert "like my surrogate father." Allen credited Gilbert with dissuading him from transferring: "There were two people I listened to. Coach Wooden as long as we were between the lines. Outside the court - Sam Gilbert." Allen said Gilbert paid for multiple abortions for players' girlfriends, including one of his own. "Everybody knew what was going on," UCLA player David Greenwood said. "Nobody was so naive. UCLA assistant Jerry Norman, who coached under Wooden from 1957 to 1968, recalled that Gilbert began "to come around our program right when I was ready to leave. What normally happens is, alumni come to you and say, 'Coach, is there any way I can help?' Well, maybe. A lot of kids want summer jobs. But Gilbert started going behind the coaches. Alcindor calls me one day in the spring. I ask him, 'Where are you?' and he says, 'I'm in Mr. Gilbert's office.'"

In his autobiography Giant Steps, Abdul-Jabbar called Gilbert "that odd combination, a cagey humanitarian with a lot of muscle. Guys would go to him when they were in trouble, and he would find a way to fix it…Sam steered clear of John Wooden, and Mr. Wooden gave him the same wide berth. "The way Sam explained it to me, it was within the rules," Allen said in a 2007 documentary.

In 1978, NCAA field investigator J. Brent Clark testified before a Congressional subcommittee that he had begun investigating Gilbert's activities the year before but was told to back off by a superior at the NCAA, Bill Hunt. Wooden was aware of Gilbert's closeness with his players. In 1972, Wooden said "I personally hardly know Sam Gilbert…I think he's a person who's trying to be helpful in every way that he can. I sometimes feel that in his interest to be helpful it's in direct contrast with what I would like to have him do to be helpful. I think he means very well and, for the most part, he has attached himself to the minority-race players. Despite concerns about Gilbert, Wooden said he chose not to ask players to cut off contact, telling the Times in 1981: "There's as much crookedness as you want to find. There was something Abraham Lincoln said - he'd rather trust and be disappointed than distrust and be miserable all the time. Maybe I trusted too much."

The Times reporters, Mike Littwin and Alan Greenberg, concluded: "Wooden knew about Gilbert. He knew the players were close to Gilbert. He knew they looked to Gilbert for advice. Maybe he knew more. He should have known much more. Wooden did pass along his concerns to UCLA athletic director J. D. Morgan, but Morgan did not pursue the matter aggressively, in part because he believed Gilbert was connected to the Mafia. Former UCLA chancellor Charles E. Young recalled Morgan "saying to me in that deep voice of his, 'Chuck, you don't know about Sam Gilbert. Do you want to end up on a block of concrete at the bottom of the ocean?' J. Gene Bartow, who succeeded Wooden as UCLA coach, felt similarly. In 1991, he wrote a letter to an NCAA official thanking him for suppressing Brent Clark's investigation into Gilbert. "I want to say 'thank you' for possibly saving my life…I believe Sam Gilbert was Mafia-related and was capable of hurting people. In 1981, after Wooden's retirement, an NCAA investigation sanctioned UCLA for its relationship with Gilbert, putting the program on probation for two seasons and ordering the school to disassociate itself from him.

In 1987, Gilbert was indicted in Florida for conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering as part of a drug smuggling scheme, but he died of heart failure before he could be prosecuted. His son, Michael Gilbert, was convicted on four counts in the case.

Post-Wooden Era: Maintaining a Competitive Edge

Following Wooden's retirement, several coaches took the helm, each striving to maintain the program's competitive edge.

From 1975 to 1977, Gene Bartow served as the head coach of UCLA. He guided them to a 52-9 record, including a berth in the 1976 Final Four. Gary Cunningham became the head coach at UCLA in 1977. Larry Brown then moved on to coach UCLA from 1979 to 1981, leading his freshman-dominated 1979-80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59-54. However, that runner-up finish was later vacated by the NCAA after two players were found to be ineligible. Larry Farmer was the head coach of UCLA from 1981 to 1984, guiding them to a 61-23 (.726) record. In 1984, Walt Hazzard was named the UCLA basketball coach 20 years after he was an All-America when UCLA won its first national championship. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984-1985 UCLA Bruin basketball team won the NIT championship.

In 1988, Jim Harrick returned to UCLA (he had spent two years as an assistant coach from 1978 to 1979) to assume head coaching duties after the firing of Walt Hazzard. During the recruiting period before his first season, he recruited Don MacLean, the most significant recruit to commit to UCLA in several years. McLean's arrival helped start a revival of the basketball program. During the 1994-1995 season, he led UCLA to a 32-1 record (a loss to California was subsequently forfeited to the Bruins) and the school's eleventh national championship, its first since the 1974-75 season. The 31 actual wins would stand as a school record until the 2005-06 season. In 1996, Harrick's Bruins were upset in the first round by Princeton. Shortly before the 1997 season, UCLA fired Harrick for lying about who attended a recruiting dinner. Later that season on February 11, 1997, with the Bruins tied for first place in the Pac-10 with an 8-3 record, UCLA removed the "interim" tag from Lavin's title and formally named him as its 11th head coach. The Bruins then won their next 11 games en route to the Pac-10 title, before being eliminated by the Minnesota Gophers in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final. In seven seasons as head coach Lavin's record was 12-4 in games involving overtime. Additionally Lavin's Bruins had a 10-4 record against the rival USC Trojans. During the period 1997-2002, Lavin's Bruins compiled nine consecutive overtime victories. These included victories over Arizona, Cincinnati (2002 NCAA second round double overtime victory over No. 1 West Region seed), Kentucky, and Stanford (then ranked No 1). At UCLA from 1996 to 2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145-78. As both an assistant and head coach, Lavin participated in 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1990-2002), while working at Purdue and UCLA. During Lavin's tenure as a head coach, he was one of only two coaches in the country to lead his team to five NCAA "Sweet 16s" in six years (1997, 1998, 2000-2002), the other coach being Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. Lavin signed seven McDonald's High School All-Americans. During Lavin's tenure as head coach, the Bruins qualified for six consecutive NCAA Tournaments (1997-2002). Lavin's record in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament is 10-1. His winning percentage (90.9%) in the first two rounds is second only to Dean Smith in NCAA Tournament history. In seven seasons as head coach Lavin's record was 12-4 in games involving overtime. The Bruins defeated the No.

Despite some success under the watch of Steve Lavin, the program wanted to regain its position in the college basketball upper echelon. Even the success in the NCAA tournament belied the fact that UCLA had earned no better than a number 4 seed with the exception of the 1997 season. The 2002-03 season turned out to be the back-breaker for Lavin as the Bruins stumbled to a 10-19 record and a 6-12 record in the conference. It was the first losing season for UCLA in over five decades. UCLA looked to find a coach that could move the Bruins back to the elite ranks of the Pac-10 and the country. Ben Howland's success at the University of Pittsburgh and his southern California roots made him an attractive candidate. Howland remedied this disappointment in his recruiting efforts. Howland produced a top tier recruiting class from athletes in southern California that fit his Big East style. Starting the 2005-06 season with the majority of the roster made over in Howland's image and with the Lavin hold-overs (e.g., Ryan Hollins and Cedric Bozeman), the Bruins produced an excellent campaign. They finished the regular season 24-6, winning the Pac-10 Conference title. They then roared through the Pac-10 tournament, winning each game by double digits en route to only the second Pac-10 tournament championship in school history. The momentum continued into the NCAA tournament as the second-seeded Bruins defeated Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen. They then upset top-seeded Memphis to reach the school's first Final Four in 11 years.

Howland continued his success at UCLA the following year. The Bruins finished undefeated at home for the first time in 22 years, winning the Pac-10 conference title. However they lost in their first Pac-10 tournament game and were seeded second in the NCAA Tournament West Region. After a close second-round win over Indiana, Howland led the Bruins to a win over his former team, Pitt in the Sweet Sixteen. At the start of the 2007-08 season, expectations for UCL…

Transition to the Big Ten Conference: A New Chapter

When UCLA officially joined the Big Ten Conference on Aug, it marked a significant shift in the university's athletic landscape. For nearly 100 years, the Bruins called the Pac-12 home. Leaving behind decades of tradition wasn’t easy, but the promise of sharing the Bruin story nationwide, opening new doors for student-athletes and keeping our programs strong made the leap a bold but thoughtful step forward. The stakes were clear: Could UCLA carry its legacy of academic and athletic excellence into a conference that stretched coast to coast?

UCLA closed out its debut Big Ten season by finishing fifth in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, an award that recognizes the top overall collegiate athletic programs in the United States, based on their performance in NCAA and NAIA championships. “Our success in the Big Ten this last year is a resounding statement,” Jarmond said, “It says that we’re here and we’re here to win championships and compete at the highest level. I’m extremely bullish and excited about our trajectory and future, especially this upcoming year. UCLA was the only school this season to have both softball and baseball teams advance to the College World Series. Men’s tennis continued its winning tradition by capturing the Big Ten tournament title and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals for the 40th time since the NCAA adopted a bracket format in 1977. “We won 10 conference championships - the most in the Big Ten,” Jarmond said.

For women’s basketball, the Bruins’ inaugural Big Ten campaign was a historic one.

Women's Basketball: Dominating the Big Ten

The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team has been making waves in the Big Ten Conference, showcasing their talent and determination.

A Historic Season: Claiming the Outright Conference Title

The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team beat Wisconsin 80-60. The win secured the Big Ten championship for the Bruins with a game still left to play, making history as the program’s first outright conference title. Previously, the Bruins shared the Pac-12 title with Oregon in 1998-99. This time around, thanks in part to Lauren Betts‘ 19-point, 14-rebound performance, the Bruins got to don their championship gear and celebrate their solo achievement.

“I just love these girls so much,” Betts said. “Winning a game like this, making history on our senior night, has got to be one of the most special moments.” Fellow senior Gabriela Jaquez’s 17-point, seven-rebound outing also contributed to the Bruins’ 17-0 Big Ten record. As one of only two players who have spent all four years of their college careers with UCLA, she gave a long-term perspective on how the team got to this moment. “It’s been amazing to watch the program grow … That’s a reason we all came here; is to do things UCLA has never done before,” Jaquez said. “We do have one loss, so that’s kind of like what I think about. I don’t think anyone’s worried about keeping a streak,” Jaquez added.

Cori Close's Leadership: Guiding the Bruins to Success

Head coach Cori Close was just as much a part of the celebrations. As the one at the helm of a program that’s going for its national title victory since 1978, which was won in the pre-NCAA era, the significance of this season-defining feat was not lost on her. “I’m sort of just trying to bask in being a part of something greater than myself or ourselves, and just trying to continue to get better every day,” she said. “Just really not lose track of the journey. The outcomes and the destinations will take care of themselves as long as we stay really, really focused on our present mission.”

Close paid tribute to the 1978 and 1979 UCLA squads, but she also highlighted how her current team has the potential to be just as legendary. “In reality, this is one of the best teams in UCLA history. They have done some things in our current landscape that haven’t been done before,” Close said. “I think these seniors actually do really understand this is really special. They’ve set a bar for the culture of our program that we will be forever measuring it against.

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Change

The jump to the Big Ten meant transitioning from the Pac-12’s travel to mostly Western schools. Teams stacked back-to-back away games to cut down on extra flights. Travel days doubled as study time. Hotel ballrooms turned into film rooms and pop-up study halls. “Adaptability and flexibility are key attributes that you have to have when you make a change,” Jarmond said. “We learned a lot through the travel first year. We had a strong GPA. The University knew that cross-country travel could add stress and make balancing academics even tougher. Advisors and faculty worked hand-in-hand with coaches to make sure coursework flexed with travel schedules. What emerged was a stronger culture of openness and support, a community that’s helping college athletes everywhere destigmatize mental health. “Some of our teams learned they might have to leave a day early - and they made the adjustments during the season,” Jarmond said. “With anything new, you learn in year one, and that helps you better prepare and tackle it in year two.

The shift wasn’t just logistical; it was cultural. If the extra miles tested our student-athletes, they also brought the Bruin family closer together. To help Bruins rally behind this new chapter, the UCLA Alumni Association carried the spirit of Westwood on the road all season long. Bruin Bash pregame parties and Big Bruin Weekends turned game days into celebrations - from the James West Alumni Center and the Rose Bowl to cities across Big Ten territory. Being part of the Big Ten has also brought opportunities for alumni to network and learn from our partner schools. This summer, UCLA Alumni hosted the Big Ten Alumni Relations Institute at the James West Alumni Center. “We have so many alumni and fans all over,” said Jarmond, “and as we continue, we need to make sure we’re connecting with them on the East Coast and the Midwest.

Building on Success: The Future of UCLA Athletics in the Big Ten

“Our success in the Big Ten this last year is a resounding statement. It says that we’re here and we’re here to win championships and compete at the highest level. On the recruiting side, the football and men’s basketball programs attracted arguably the top transfers in the transfer portal in Nico Iamaleava and Donovan Dent, respectively, while men’s soccer reeled in the No. 1 class in the country.

There was concern the extra miles would stretch the budget and the athletes too thin. “We want to be consistent,” Jarmond said. “In year two, you’ll see us build off the foundation we’ve laid. And E.L.I.T.E. is the standard: Energy, Leadership, Integrity, Toughness and Excellence. It’s a mindset Bruins carry into every venue, in every sport, coast to coast. We don’t need to change a whole lot. We need to adapt and welcome new environments.

A year ago, the Big Ten move felt like a leap into the unknown. Bruins didn’t just adapt; they excelled. They brought home trophies, broke attendance records, raised the bar for mental health and proved success is about more than wins and losses. “To all of our fans, supporters and alumni,” Jarmond said, “We have a program you can be proud of, and we’ll continue to compete at the highest level in our new conference. “Competing in the Big Ten allows us the opportunity to engage Bruins everywhere and bring the Bruin community together in a unique way. In our second year, I encourage all Bruins to come out, watch a game, get a watch party going and just engage with other Bruins. Let’s come together and get behind these student-athletes, because they’re some of the best in the country. We’re going to keep working hard, adapting and being flexible, and achieving success at an elite level.”

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