Noelle Quinn returns to UCLA Women’s Basketball as an assistant coach after her stint as a player and coach for the WNBA for a full circle moment.
Quinn spent 12 years in the WNBA after being picked fourth overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft. Quinn later joined the Seattle Storm coaching staff. Before the WNBA though, she played four years for the Bruins, where she would become the first player in Bruins basketball history to total at least 1,700 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists for a career.
“It’s surreal for me to just be back in a place where I grew so much – not only playing the sport that I love, to just studying and being around the culture of excellence here,” said Quinn in UCLA’s release. “It is quite a dream come true, honestly, to come back in and be able to serve this community, serve Cori, the staff, the student-athletes, and the whole Bruin community. I’m from LA, so being an LA native and being able to once again be home, that’s fulfilling within itself, but the full circle moment comes back to what I learned here as an athlete. It is not about the name on the back of the jersey but the four letters across your chest, and what that stands for and means. That stuck with me throughout my entire playing career, and coaching career thus far, and it still resonates today.”
Quinn accomplished a lot while she wore those four letters during her collegiate career. According to UCLA, Quinn ended her UCLA career in the Top-10 in 14 different categories, including fourth in points, eighth in rebounds and seventh in assists.
She also received first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a freshman, junior and senior while earning Pac-10 All-Tournament honors in 2006 and 2007. Quinn, Close and the Bruins will be hoping that her return to the Bruins as a coach brings just as much success as it did her first time in the blue and gold.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Former UCLA player returns full circle as they return to Bruins
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire | USA TODAY Network
