UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close blasted the media on Sunday after she only got one inquiry following the No. 4 Bruins’ 82–75 win over No. 19 Ohio State.
Close told Benjamin Royer—a Los Angeles-based freelance sports reporter who didn’t travel to the game in Columbus—that he was the only media member who asked to speak with her after the win, the journalist posted on X.
“Honestly, if I’m being really blunt with you, the energy in the building was great, but having no media here at all from either team or either—no AP, no nothing, doesn’t say a lot,” Close told Royer. “We’re the only double-ranked game out today; the only one in the country, and we had no media day today. No media here. You’re the only one that’s asked to talk to me. And credit to you, but I don’t mind if you print that either. Like for the only game that had two ranked opponents to not have more coverage over this particular game—dissappointing, honestly.”
However, at least three local reporters appear to have attended the game in Columbus; there just wasn’t a press conference held for UCLA.
The Associated Press sent a freelancer who attended the game in Columbus and published a story about it, but she did not attend any media availability with Close. Reporter Nicole Kraft tells Front Office Sports that her piece was a straight game recap, for which the AP does not use quotes. “The timing for those stories is about five minutes after the final buzzer so there’s no way to meet that and get quotes at the same time,” Kraft tells FOS. Kraft says she was also leaving the basketball game to cover the Columbus Blue Jackets for the AP. (The basketball game started at 2 p.m. ET, and the hockey game began at 5 p.m. ET.)
Kraft says she suspects other local reporters may have been heading to the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night. Kraft herself was boarding a plane to the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff game as she answered questions via text.
Other outlets that cover Ohio State such as The Columbus Dispatch and Land-Grant Holy Land did write stories about the game, though.
The Land-Grant Holy Land writer, Thomas Costello, posted extensively about the game on Bluesky, including a picture from the arena.
“Because of football, I am the only regular outlet here at the game today for No. 4 vs. No. 19. AP is also here since it’s a top ranked game,” Costello wrote. “This is zero shade at my fellow writers. It’s shade at the people at outlets who make decisions about what they cover.”
Costello later posted that he went to the Ohio State press conference along with a reporter from local station NBC4.
“There was no media availability with Coach Close in the press conference room today,” Costello posted on Bluesky. “I told the Ohio State SID I didn’t have any specific questions for UCLA, in the third quarter. I was trying to be respectful of travel and I wasn’t writing any UCLA-specific stories on my OSU-focused beat.”
The writer of the Columbus Dispatch article, Brianna Mac Kay, said in an unrelated post on X on Monday that “I took a few days last week to celebrate Christmas with my family, but I am back to work.” It’s unclear whether Mac Kay attended the game.
The reporter from NBC4, David DeGuzman, tells FOS that fewer outlets attended the women’s game than usual, which he also chalked up to the Cotton Bowl. But he also says it’s pretty normal for the opposing coach not to come into the press conference, and his outlet focuses on covering Ohio State, so they rarely ask for time with the opposing team.
“Even though there was less media than usual, we covered it just like we cover any other game,” DeGuzman says. “I do see why there was some concern as to why there was less media for a top-20 game, but I mean, I was there.”
A spokesperson for Ohio State declined to comment.
Close, via a UCLA spokesperson, told FOS on Tuesday, “I have never been shy about my desire to grow the game and to tell the stories of the great women in it. I know that traditional media has changed quite a bit, I just can’t remember a time in my 15 years as a head coach that we had a double-ranked game that had zero press conference and wanted zero quotes from the away team. On top of it, we’re the No. 4 team in the country, so—I’m not just talking about people in the building, I’m talking about our publications back home and anyone who wants to tell the story of our game, when I know some of these outlets cover every men’s road game in person, you know? I’m just asking for proportionate growth and coverage with the growth of our game, and I am happy to support non-traditional media that wants to tell the stories of our players in appropriate ways.”
Close’s comments after the game sparked a discussion on social media about the state of collegiate women’s basketball coverage.
“As much work as outlets put into covering the sport, we typically don’t see a big spike in interest until conference play, and then, again during tournament time,” national women’s basketball reporter Meghan Hall posted on X.
“Cori is right to point this out but traditional media is dead…The problem is media like this barely even exists to show up,” one longtime media member said.
A lack of local coverage goes beyond women’s and college sports. As newspapers continue to shrink or die off entirely, fewer outlets send reporters on the road with teams. There are several NBA and MLB teams where it’s not unheard for one or zero reporters to travel with the team. Last month, for example, after the Minnesota Timberwolves fell apart in Phoenix, none of the team’s beat reporters were there to pepper coach Chris Finch with questions at the postgame press conference.
