Nearly 20 years later, BYU star Lee Cummard a head coach in his dream job

PROVO — Former BYU basketball star Lee Cummard had quite the birthday celebration over the weekend — one that he'll never forget.

On the eve of the big 4-0, Cummard and his wife, Sarah, took their three sons to Arizona to visit both sets of grandparents for spring break. The family visited Sarah's parents for lunch Sunday afternoon, and after a celebratory dessert, they heading to the paternal grandparents for dinner — one that included "lots of steak," he told KSL.com.

Then the rangy 6-foot-7 forward nicknamed "Spiderman" when he terrorized the Mountain West Conference and earned All-America honors three times at BYU boarded a flight for Provo to celebrate the biggest birthday of his life, the one where he was named head coach of the BYU women's basketball program.

Happy birthday, indeed.

Cummard is the eighth head coach of the program, just eight years after former coach Dave Rose gave him his first full-time assistant job with the men's team and three years since fellow alum Amber Whiting took the same job.

After spending time on staff with the previous two coaches, Cummard understands what BYU basketball is all about: a lot of winning, but also the centerpiece of the university owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"My love and desire for BYU is tremendous," he said. "There are a lot of athletes or people a part of our program that want the same thing. We're going to go head first into what that actually is.

"We're going to be completely aligned with what this university is about, as people, as students and as athletes. On the athletic front, there's a tradition of winning here. There's a commitment to it, as well. We're going to do our part in carrying that tradition forward."

Excellence is the expectation at BYU, and that will be expected for Cummard, who was the associate head coach of the team that finished 13-17 and 4-14 in the Big 12 last year under Whiting.

Today's college basketball world is a new landscape riddled with name, image and likeness payments and the transfer portal, so Cummard won't take his first head coaching job alone. He said "there's no doubt about it" that BYU needs to the support of the school, the administration and an army of willing donors to build success.

But he also doesn't want to build a program on athletes whose first move is about a paycheck, either.

"The portal went live Tuesday for women's basketball, and as we navigate that, it's very clear who's chasing money and who's not in those conversations," he said. "The administration has been really supportive in that area, and we're grateful for that.

"We've approached it more focused on people who want to be here and be a part of something bigger than themselves, and knowing we want everybody to feel valued and appreciated in the financial aspect of that. The administration has been great and super supportive in regards to that."

BYU women's basketball hasn't been traditionally embraced NIL as well as some of its male-sport counterparts. But Cummard is off and running, connecting with the eight players currently on roster for the 2025-26 season — including Delaney Gibb, the Big 12 freshman of the year who averaged 17.4 points on 45% shooting in her inaugural college season and joined most of her teammates at Cummard's introductory press conference.

He's already reached out to several recruits, like 2025 prospect Braeden Gunlock out of Montana, Kanab's Rylee Little, the 6-foot-5 center from the Class of 2026; and ESPN top-100 recruit Sydney Benally, the 5-foot-10 combo guard from New Mexico who won back-to-back Gatorade New Mexico Player of the Year awards as a junior and senior.

In the days since Whiting was fired, only two players have entered the transfer portal from BYU: Amari Whiting, the starting point guard and former ESPN top-50 recruit who transferred to Oklahoma State; and Kailey Woolston, the former Lone Peak sharpshooter and Gatorade Utah player of the year who will return from a church mission in Baltimore in May.

Among his first duties Monday, Cummard emailed Woolston during the sister missionary's preparation day to give her the news. He also hosted a transfer prospect on campus during his introductory press conference.

"Those are conversations are all being had," he said. "All that's in the works. I feel really good about where everybody's at, and their desire to be a BYU Cougar. I'm just excited."

Now it's his turn to build on a program he's helped guide to four postseason berths, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and 12 all-conference honors including Gibb, West Coast Conference defensive players of the year Lauren Gustin and Sara Hamson, and two-time WCC player of the year Shaylee Gonzales.

Cummard wants a program that is stingy about the culture, where players expect as much from wearing the "BYU" logo on the front of their jersey as the last name printed on the back, and represents the ideals of the university and its sponsoring faith — whether active church members or not.

He also wants to win in a way that is familiar to BYU fans.

"I would imagine it looks a lot like how I played: scrappy, tough, work ethic's there. Tom (Holmoe, outgoing athletic director) talked about competitiveness," Cummard said. "We're going to have all that, and you're going to be able to see that when we're on the court — and a lot of 3-pointers."

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