Name Image Likeness

UCLA Women's Basketball Hosts Cayman Islands Youth Clinic, Shoe Donation

No. 2-ranked Bruins give back to the community during Cayman Islands Classic

Michael Ehrlich

UCLA Women's Basketball Hosts Cayman Islands Youth Clinic, Shoe Donation
UCLA Women's Basketball Hosts Cayman Islands Youth Clinic, Shoe Donation /
In this story:

In between dominating the highly anticipated Thanksgiving week Cayman Islands Classic - including a commanding victory over UConn - the No. 2 ranked UCLA women's basketball team (6-0) spent their down time giving back to the local community.

The Bruins hosted a youth basketball clinic for local elementary and middle schools kids and coordinated a surprise giveaway of OOFOS slides.

“It’s such a privilege to be here,” head coach Cori Close shared with FloSports. “It’s Thanksgiving and it’s an opportunity to serve others. Especially in Division I sports, we get so much and I think it’s so important - one of our core values is - to be lifestyle givers.”

After the on-court session and OOFOS giveaway at the Cayman International School, the Bruins taught the youth participants UCLA's famous Eight Clap.

“It was just so cool to have the kids around and to play basketball with us,” Bruin All-American guard Charisma Osborne shared. “I think it’s just so important for kids to see representation and see that they can make it really far - especially in sports - and especially for girls. We had so much fun.”

"My favorite part about the event in general was just hanging out with some kids that I had never seen before," Bruins forward Christeen Iwuala said. "They don't know who I am and I didn't know who they were before this. But I guarantee if I were them, I would remember this for a long time. To be able to part of those memories and make new ones is awesome."

The Bruins went 2-0 at the Cayman Islands Classic, defeating No. 6-ranked UConn and Niagra. Sophomore star Kiki Rice had a career night against the Huskies, flirting with a triple double. She scored a career-high 24 points, grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and added eight assists. Combined with her 8 point, 8 assist game against Niagara, Rice earned UCLA student-athlete of the week honors, which marked the third week in a row that a women's basketball player was celebrated.

“It’s not only to make a difference in the kids’ lives that we got a chance to interact with, but it also it protects our hearts,” added Close. “We want to be people of gratitude and we want to live our lives out of an overflow of that. It's truly an honor. Everywhere we go – whether it’s a Thanksgiving tournament - we try to find a community in which we can make a difference.”

The Bruins' No. 2 ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls is the highest in program history. UCLA next visits Arkansas on Sunday December 3.

Published
Michael Ehrlich
MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com

Home/NIL Schools