Overview
- Of the bequest, $9.6 million is designated for football and $7.7 million for men's basketball.
- The athletics funding is part of an estate commitment exceeding $40 million that also directs $11.4 million to UCLA Health, $5.7 million to the Anderson School, $3.8 million to men's rugby and $1.9 million to the Center for the Art of Performance.
- Athletic director Martin Jarmond and coaches Bob Chesney and Mick Cronin praised the donation as transformational for program competitiveness.
- Donor Lawrence “Larry” Layne earned an MBA in 1977, played and coached rugby at UCLA, died in December 2024 and had previously made nearly 100 athletics gifts totaling about $18.8 million.
- The announcement comes as reports note a $219.55 million athletic department shortfall over six fiscal years that the university says is now zero, and the contribution is believed to be the largest for UCLA Athletics in more than a decade.