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- Kailey Woolston withdrew from the transfer portal after Lee Cummard's appointment.
- Woolston, a top 3-point shooter, is on a mission and returns next year.
- Cummard's recruitment efforts also retain ESPN top-100 guard Sydney Benally.
PROVO — New BYU women's basketball coach Lee Cummard keeps racking up recruiting wins, without hitting the trail.
A day after rising sophomore star Delaney Gibb gave the first-time Cougar head coach a strong vote of confidence, another former BYU star in Kailey Woolston pulled her name from transfer consideration.
The 5-foot-10 shooting guard who led the NCAA in 3-point percentage as a freshman before serving an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Baltimore reportedly withdrew from the transfer portal after Cummard was named head coach, as first reported by On3.
Woolston entered the portal shortly after former coach Amber Whiting was fired by BYU, and was one of two players to flirt with a change even while the current sister missionary continues her service. She's currently scheduled to return in late spring or early summer, program sources told KSL.com.
Woolston was one of two BYU players to enter the portal after Whiting's fire, along with starting point guard Amari Whiting, who transferred to Oklahoma State.
But when Cummard was named the new head coach, the former BYU standout and Mountain West player of the year emailed Woolston early Monday — the day set aside for Woolston's preparation day — to tell her about his new position. By Thursday evening, her name had been withdrawn from the portal.
BREAKING: BYU's Kailey Woolston has withdrawn her name from the transfer portal, sources told @On3sports.
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 4, 2025
Woolston averaged 13.3 ppg and shot 47% from deep in 2023-24.
Major news for BYU.
TRACKER: https://t.co/StsxDxjlYlpic.twitter.com/RS7gHSyx8V
It was all part of several conversations the new coach had with a number of recruits, including incoming ESPN top-100 guard and four-star prospect Sydney Benally, the two-time Gatorade New Mexico player of the year who has remained committed to the Cougars during the coaching change.
"We have several recruits currently committed, and those conversations have been had, and they're still ready to come and play at BYU," Cummard told KSL.com after he was introduced as the program's eighth head coach. "We currently have a good player, but even better person, out of the portal who is visiting us today. I literally drove from the airport to here, met with her briefly, and she's going on a facility tour as we speak.
"We have girls on a mission that are well aware of what's happened; I emailed Kailey Woolston, because today's her (preparation) day, early this morning letting her know what was going to play out and how important she is to our program. ... I feel really good about where everybody's at and their desire to be a BYU Cougar."
The morning after Cummard's introductory press conference, representatives of Charleston transfer Lara Rohkohl told On3 that the 6-foot-3 post from Hamburg, Germany, who averaged 10.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game last year had narrowed her transfer destinations to four schools: BYU, Duquesne, Texas Tech and Wisconsin.
Woolston averaged 13.3 points on 46.8% shooting including a 46.6% 3-point effort in 32 games as a freshman in 2023-24 before receiving her mission call.
