Head coach Ganiyat Adeduntan will take on her mentor when Colgate visits UCLA on Sunday.

When Colgate head coach Ganiyat Adeduntan steps on the court inside Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Sunday to take on UCLA, she’s going to find a very familiar face on the opposing side.

In what will be the third regular season game for Colgate, Adeduntan will go head-to-head against UCLA head coach Cori Close, her long-time mentor.

Adeduntan played her college basketball at Florida State from 2002-06, including two seasons with Close, who was an assistant coach.

Close would have a major impact on Adeduntan, helping her become an exceptional student-athlete while instilling principles that she now applies in her own coaching at Colgate. 

“The student meets the teacher — that’s how I look at it,” she said. “Cori is someone I am always cheering on, celebrating, and picking her brain to learn from. I think it will be a great experience for my players. I think it will be a great experience for me as a coach.”

Adeduntan has revived and reinvented Colgate Women’s Basketball since her first year at the helm in 2021. From establishing a new culture to injecting the program with special talent, Adeduntan has seen her team improve each season. 

In 2023-24, she guided the program to its first 20-win season in two decades. The Raiders are 1-0 to start the new season, and will be in sunny California this weekend for its longest road trip under Adeduntan. The trip includes a game against CSU Bakersfield on Friday. 

Adeduntan looks forward to preparing for the Bruins and facing one of the top teams in the country. Win or lose, she wants her student-athletes to learn from the matchup. 

“I am a big believer that experiences develop you, even if it’s challenging,” she said. “I see this as an opportunity for us to grow. It will be exciting to scout against UCLA. The preparation and planning is always something that is the most enjoyable and I relish preparation. To be able to game plan as best as we can against a team that’s top five in the country at this point.”

When Close joined Florida State, she brought values, intensity, and an emphasis in leadership that made a swift impact on the team. 

Adeduntan has transformed Colgate Women's Basketball since she joined Colgate in 2021.

Today, Adeduntan coaches with a similar intensity. She stresses leadership and accountability. Those who play for Adeduntan quickly learn the importance of every detail, no matter how small. 

“How you pass, receive, screen, every little small thing can be the separator between getting an open shot or winning a game. She impacted me tremendously there,” Adeduntan said.

“She brought a certain level of intensity when it comes to details, how you go about each day,” Adeduntan said. “Every little thing mattered. That’s when I started learning that from her. Every little thing you do, the choices you make, how you approach your day-to-day life and in basketball. How you come in each day, the extra work you put in. What you do after workouts. These were the things she instilled into us.”

After Florida State, Adeduntan and Close stayed in touch. As Adeduntan began her coaching career, she turned to Close from time to time for advice. Over the years, the two have found moments to connect in person at the WBCA Convention that happens alongside the Women's Basketball Final Four.  

“When I got into coaching, I was able to lean on her through the journey,” Adeduntan said. “And as a head coach, she is still someone who is a mentor to me that I lean on and call on to ask for guidance and help.”

Adeduntan, a native of Athens, Ga., was one of the top players in the nation coming out of high school. Multiple ACC and SEC programs were recruiting her. She chose Florida State because she believed in the vision her coaches had described. She believed they could help her become the player she wanted to be. 

In addition, she was excited about joining a program that was up-and-coming at the time. And she saw it as a good place to earn a degree in nursing. Adeduntan was interested in a medical career, having been influenced by her father, a retired surgeon. 

Her career with the Seminole was nothing short of memorable. She became a 1,000-point scorer, winning lots of games and helping the program become a household name. She also met people who would continue to impact her today. 

“I remember when Cori first got the job, she called me,” Adeduntan said. “She wanted to get to know me. I thought that left a lasting impact on the kind of coach she was and the things she valued. My staff today uses a similar holistic development, caring about helping student-athletes become more well-rounded, not just as basketball players, but ultimately as people, supporting them in different aspects of their lives. Cori is someone I pulled a lot from as a student-athlete and even as a coach."