Can a Cougar great revive BYU’s women’s basketball team?
Former BYU basketball player Lee Cummard is the Cougars ' new women's basketball coach. Cummard said he wants to recruit and win the " BYU way."He took a gamble with his last hire to lead the women’s basketball program.
With BYU moving to the Big 12 and recruiting needing a level up, he plucked a former AAU coach out of Idaho to lead the Cougars into a new age. Amber Whiting had never coached at the college level, not even as an assistant, but Holmoe figured in a world where traditional resumes don’t matter, why not take a big swing? An AAU coach can at least recruit, right? “Coaching is very difficult in this day and age. There are a lot of responsibilities that haven’t been seen in the past,” Holmoe said recently. “And many of our coaches, in all sports, are doing things that are really outside what they are trained to do. There are no pathways that people have trod to get to this point.”Less than three years later, Whiting was out in Provo. She went 4-14 in the Big 12 last year, never had a winning season and was bounced in the first round of the Big 12 tournament by fellow newcomer UCF. Now, Holmoe has taken corrective action, hiring Lee Cummard to take over the women’s basketball program. His thesis was right. With NIL, the transfer portal and revenue sharing, traditional resumes for college coaches don’t matter as much. But his conclusion was different this time. Instead of going with somebody with no college experience, this time he doubled down on BYU experience. He went with comfort. In a world with no rules, he bet on what he knew. “We are super stoked to have one of our own who has been a champion here at BYU in the past and will be a champion in the future,” Holmoe said as he introduced Cummard last week. “... This is one of the reasons why I think Lee is the right coach at the right time for here at BYU.” Cummard, a former BYU star on the men’s team, didn’t back away from this assertion. He leaned into it, hard. “None of those played here. I really feel like that is an advantage to me,” he said. “The whole BYU experience — I might die on that hill — but I want people to want to be here. To want to represent BYU on the front of the jersey. That’s how I’ll be the most different.” Brigham Young guard Lee Cummard exits the game in the final minutes of BYU's loss to Texas A&M in the first round of NCAA men's basketball tournament in Philadelphia in 2009. It doesn’t get much more BYU than Cummard. He played for Dave Rose in the 2000s, winning co-Mountain West player of the year in 2008. After he was done playing overseas, he came back to Rose’s staff as a graduate assistant and moved up to coach. When Rose stepped aside, he shuffled to Jeff Judkins’ staff on the women’s team. And he spent the last three years as Whiting’s associate head coach. Yes, those same three seasons when BYU went 45-51 and the offense committed 17 turnovers a night.But with this hire, Holmoe made it clear. Even if Cummard shared responsibility for the program’s deterioration, its restoration rested on getting back to the “BYU way” that Cummard talked so much about — that came from a lifetime spent in BYU’s hallways. “Going to be really stingy about the culture, or the BYU way of doing things,” Cummard said. “I would imagine it looks a lot like how I played. Scrappy, tough, work ethic is there.” And in recruiting, that seems to mean rejecting the new order of the sport. Cummard said he wouldn’t pitch recruits on money but on the university overall. BYU guard Lee Cummard drives the ball around the defense of North Florida at the Marriott Center in 2008. “The recruiting process doesn’t change that much. Great university, with great people surrounding you the entire time you are going to be her,” he said. “You are going to evolve as a person and as a player. And I promise you, you will be a better shooter for sure.”“The people chasing money, we kind of just . You’re a great talent, but you know,” he said. “The administration has been really supportive in that area. And we are grateful for that. We have approached it more to the people that want to be here, be a part of something bigger than themselves.”It’s hard not to juxtapose this approach to the one Holmoe took just a year ago when he hired Kevin Young to lead men’s basketball. There, BYU doubled down on the outside hire, with no college experience and a ton of resources. It got the Cougars to the Sweet 16 and the No. 1 recruit in the country. Cummard, as an alum, watched how Young’s hire worked out. He was thrilled with the direction of the program. But even he admitted, his way would be different. “I was really proud of how they represented us,” he said. “We’ll do it our own way with great people.”University of Utah faculty call President Randall ‘draconian’ after he orders review of their authorityVoices: When I need to restore my faith in democracy, I think of my friend Mia Love
Brigham Young University Cougars Athletics Sports
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Watch: Lee Dong Wook, Lee Joo Bin, Lee Kwang Soo, And Lee Da Hee Are All Smiles During “The Divorce Insurance” Teaser ShoottvN’s “The Divorce Insurance” has shared a peek behind the scenes of its poster and teaser shoot! “The Divorce Insurance” is a romantic comedy starring
Read more »
Instead of getting cheaper, one of Lenovo's latest Android tablets is getting costlierAdrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem.
Read more »
Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville: Score, live updates of NCAA Tournament first-round gameFollow along as the Big 12 champion Cougars take on SIU Edwardsville's Cougars
Read more »
Commanders getting 'a motivated Deebo,' Samuel says after getting contract redoneDeebo Samuel said the Commanders are getting 'a very motivated player' after trading for him and reworking his contract.
Read more »
Watch: Lee Dong Wook, Lee Kwang Soo, Lee Da Hee, And Lee Joo Bin Play A Game Of Mafia In “Amazing Saturday” PreviewThe stars of tvN’s upcoming drama “The Divorce Insurance” are coming to “Amazing Saturday”! On March 22, the popular variety show aired a sneak peek of
Read more »
How to Watch & Listen to West Virginia at BYUGetting you set for the Mountaineers three-game weekend Big 12 series matchup against the Cougars
Read more »