Courtesy BYU Photos
BYU women’s basketball coach Amber Whiting will give the team directions during a women’s college basketball game against Westminster at the Marriott Center on Thursday, October 27, 2022.
The work was a big deal.
Amber Whiting was a successful girls’ basketball high school coach in Idaho and had a great connection to the AAU circuit when he was hired by BYU three seasons ago on behalf of Jeff Judkins. The Cougars were playing at the West Coast Conference at the time, so they joined the powerful Big 12 in 2023.
The results over the three years were not satisfaction of either party.
Whiting and BYU have agreed to a “way to say goodbye,” according to a BYU news release on Saturday morning. Anyone who met Whiting, how competitive she was and how much she loved to win a fourth season at Provo and take care of an unfinished business, so anything with the “mutual agreement” that comes with it must be taken with grains of salt.
Whiting proved to be a great recruiter, and her team from 2024-25 was led by Delaney Gibb, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, as well as sophomore Amari Whiting, Amber’s daughter, who committed to Oregon before her mother took on a BYU job.
Coach Whiting had no win record in three seasons. The Cougars were 13-17 in their final year at the WCC, and they recorded the same 16-17 record in two seasons with the Big 12. However, BYU was 10-26 with big 12 plays and was eliminated in the first round of the league tournaments of the past two seasons.
There were some highlights. Coach Whiting convinced Lauren Gustin to return to his senior season in 2023-24, and Gustin led the country in rebounds, eventually breaking his school career record. The Cougars upset No. 18 Baylor and No. 20 Oklahoma State in February last season, both of which won at Marriott Center. However, BYU struggled with the athleticism of the Big 12 defensive, leading the league in turnovers this season (18.4 per game).
The Cougars never beat Utah during Whiting’s tenure (0-4) and lost seven of their last eight games in the 2024-25 campaign. Of the team’s 14 league losses, nine were in single digits, including two overtime.
The news release shows that Associate head coach Lee Kammard will take over on a tentative basis. Camado was Dave Rose’s alumni assistant in the boys’ program for two seasons in 2018-19 before Rose retired. He joined the women’s program with Jeff Judkins the following season, staying throughout his whiting time at Provo.
There must be some movement in the roster, but maintaining GIBB must be number one priority. GIBB won 10 Big 12 Freshman of the Week Awards and averaged 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, while earning 77 three-pointers.
Amari Whiting (10.3 PPG) is the two-year starter and, according to a report on Saturday, had already named the transfer portal.
Cougars alumni Emma Calvert (12.6 ppg), Kemery Condon (9.2 ppg), Kendra Gillispie, Lauren Davenport, Walk on Kylie Krebs. LMU Transfer Marya Hudgins started seven games before injuries took the rest of her first season at Provo. Two Idaho freshmen, Brinley Cannon and Cumbly Barber, played a key role on the bench. New Zealand native Ariel McKee Williams, who started 24 games in 2022-23, has shown he has returned to 2025-26 after suffering two knee injuries and missing the past two seasons.
BYU is the New Mexico Gatorade player of the class of 2025 and has already signed the 4-star Guard Sydney Benary, Montana’s outstanding Braden Gun Rock. Kailey Woolston averaged 13.3 points per game last season, earning 13.3 points as a freshman, serving the church mission in Maryland. She is scheduled to return next season.
Here is the full news release from BYU:
“BYU women’s basketball head coach Amber Whiting announced on Saturday that she and BYU will not return to the 2025-26 season as she and BYU agreed to another way.
Whiting took over the BYU women’s basketball program ahead of the 2022-23 season and served as head coach for the past three seasons. While at the helm of the Cougars program, she put together an overall record of 45-51, including the 19-35 mark in the conference matchup.
Her cougar team, which led BYU women’s basketball to the Big 12 Conference, knocked out the 18th place Baylor Bears on February 10, 2024 and the 20th Oklahoma Cowgirl on February 15, 2025, notched a second place victory.
Under Whiting’s guidance, four players won meeting honors. This is highlighted by the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2025, Delaney Gibb and WCC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, and Lauren Gustin, the rebound leader in BYU history. Whiting also coached the second-place 3-point shooter at Kylie Woolston from 2023-24.
Her cougar team traveled twice during the postseason, WNIT in 2023 and WNIT, which was newly formed in 2024.
With Whiting’s departure, BYU Women’s Basketball associate head coach Lee Kammard will become interim head coach. ”
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