For USC and UCLA, Basketball Means More to A Community Rebuilding After January Fires

As both southern California women's basketball teams aim to make basketball history, they carry with them the hopes of fans and families rebuilding after the Palisades and Eaton Fires.

On the night of January 7th, Cori Close and her team were flying back to Los Angeles from West Lafayette, Indiana. Her top ranked UCLA Bruins were riding high off a win against Purdue but the feelings of elation began to subside as the plane reached cruising altitude over the Midwest.

For those on the plane that had Wifi, texts and emails started to fly as news trickled in of a fire burning in the Pacific Palisades area of L.A. Dry brush and high winds led to a full scale conflagration, catching everyone in the area by surprise. There had been wildfires in the Malibu area before but none like this. As minutes turned to hours in the air, the anxiety started to settle in for those with the program that had friends, family or loved ones in the area where the fire was spreading.

Soon, they were flying over the city, watching the fast moving line burn a path through neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades. A member of their NIL collective, who was flying with the Bruins that night, looked out the window and knew the worst was yet to come. He couldn’t see it specifically but he knew the truth.

His house was gone.