UCLA HC Cori Close heaps praises on Lauren Betts' teammate amid offseason grind: "She is an elite WNBA prospect"

Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice were two key cogs of Cori Close's UCLA team that reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament last season. Betts led the Bruins in scoring while Rice followed behind with 12.8 points per game.

On Wednesday, Close uploaded a video on Instagram of Rice during her practice session, hyping up the Bruins' junior guard.

"Skill Development: You will see in the below workout video what makes @kikiRice elite! Coming back from injury with use of only 1 arm…no problem. She is an elite @WNBA prospect because her work ethic raises the work ethic of all the people around her on top of helping her improvement.

"Focused on handle work, acceleration/deceleration , left handed passing, & footwork. Shout out to our amazingly creative staff in making these workouts new & fresh," Close wrote in the caption.

Rice was training under UCLA assistant coaches Tasha Brown and Soh Matsuura, whom Close gave a shoutout in her caption.

The 5-foot-11 Maryland native is a projected second-round pick in next year’s WNBA draft, according to ESPN’s Michael Voepel. She is ranked No. 13 on the top-15 list. Betts, who will return for her junior year with the Bruins, is projected as the top pick in the mock draft.

Cori Close wants Kiki Rice to embrace her offensive potential

Kiki Rice will have a bigger role next season for the UCLA Bruins in terms of leadership and on-court production as they seek to build on last season's success to reach new heights in March Madness.

Speaking with Ros Gold-Onwude last week on the "Good Follow" podcast, Cori Close described her goals for Rice heading into her fourth season with the Bruins.

"Kiki Rice — people keep talking about her. If they went and did their homework, she shot 38% from the three-point line last year. The problem is she doesn't do it enough," Close said (Timestamp: 19:16). "That's our big thing. She can do it; she just sees herself more as a downhill driver. But she's great.

"I mean, Kiki is — I guess I just didn’t say her because she’s already been here, but in terms of how she spaces the floor and what she does, I just think that we have all the pieces. This is the most talented team."

Cori Close added five new players to her roster from the transfer portal, including Vanderbilt guard Iyana Moore, who is expected to team up with Rice in the backcourt.