BYU Women’s Basketball Staff Coming Together Under Whiting
Jun 7, 2022, 1:46 PM | Updated: 1:52 pm
Former BYU Women's Basketball star Morgan Bailey joins the coaching staff at her alma mater under Amber Whiting. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The first coaching staff for BYU Women’s Basketball coach Amber Whiting is coming together.
Whiting, who was hired to succeed Jeff Judkins after announcing his retirement, has tabbed some familiar faces around BYU sports to be on her bench.
#BYU announces Lee Cummard has been named women’s basketball associate head coach.#BYUWBB @kslsports
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) June 3, 2022
First, she hired former BYU basketball star and Judkins assistant Lee Cummard. Cummard will be Whiting’s Associate Head Coach, a promotion from his title of assistant under Judkins.
“I couldn’t be more excited to have Lee with me as associate head coach,” Whiting said. “Not only was he an amazing player here at The Y, but he brings a wealth of coaching knowledge and experience. Lee has established himself as a great recruiter, and I see him continuing in that capacity, along with expounding upon skill development, game prep and in-game tactics/adjustments. I’m looking forward to working side-by-side with him as we take on this new challenge.”
Cummard rejoins BYU Women’s Basketball as Associate Head Coach
Last season, Cummard stepped in as head coach when Judkins was sidelined due to testing positive for COVID-19. BYU took down Florida State and West Virginia, with Cummard running the operation by taking down Florida State and West Virginia.
Before taking an assistant role as an assistant for Judkins in 2019, Cummard was a full-time assistant during the final year under his former coach Dave Rose with the men’s program.
BYU great Morgan Bailey returns to her alma mater
Along with Cummard, Whiting hired another BYU great to join her staff. She went down University Parkway to hire former BYU All-American Morgan Bailey as an assistant coach this time.
Bailey played for Jeff Judkins at BYU from 2010-15.
Congrats @AYbaybay41 on being named Assistant Coach 🤙 pic.twitter.com/O1i21KDXJZ
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) June 7, 2022
Bailey, a niece to former Jazz player Thurl Bailey, was previously at Utah Valley University for two seasons. During her two seasons with the Wolverines on Dan Nielson’s bench, Utah Valley posted a 29-18 record in the WAC.
Bailey helped UVU earn their first NCAA Tournament bid in 2020-21, where they faced eventual National Champion Stanford in the opening round.
“Morgan was an amazing player that has a wealth of knowledge, experience, and energy,” said Whiting. “I am so excited to have her on our staff. Her ability to teach and skill develop at this level is second to none. Her personality will fit so well with our team and complement our staff. She also has great connections with the girls and will be an amazing mentor for them.”
Before UVU, Bailey was an assistant at Southern Utah and Snow College.
Whiting has one more full-time assistant coach position to fill on her staff.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
