Lindsay Gottlieb enters this season with one of the most anticipated teams in the country, headlined by the nation's No. 1 recruiting class arriving in Los Angeles. It's the next chapter of a five-year turnaround at USC that has already produced the program's best stretch of basketball in nearly four decades. 

In 2024-25, Gottlieb led the Trojans to a 31-4 record, an Elite Eight run, and the program's first Big Ten regular-season title since 1994, earning Big Ten Coach of the Year honors along the way. She followed it with a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025-26, extending USC's return to national relevance under her leadership. 

Before USC, Gottlieb spent eight seasons as head coach at Cal, compiling a 179-89 record, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, and a trip to the 2013 Final Four. In 2019, she made history as the first NCAA women's head coach to join an NBA staff when the Cleveland Cavaliers hired her, becoming the first female coach in franchise history. 

As a speaker, Gottlieb draws on that full arc; building a program from the ground up at Cal, breaking a barrier by moving into an NBA staff, and returning USC to national prominence ; to talk about resilience, culture-building, and what it takes to lead at the highest level of a sport that keeps changing under your feet.