BYU and women’s basketball coach Amber Whiting have “agreed to part ways” after three seasons, the university announced Saturday.
Whiting, a former high school basketball coach in Idaho, went 45-51 during her time in Provo. BYU never had a winning season in her tenure and finished 4-14 in the Big 12 this year.
The Cougars were bounced from the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday, losing to UCF 81-69.
Former BYU men’s basketball player Lee Cummard will serve as the program’s interim coach. Cummard was an assistant on Whiting’s staff.
Whiting replaced longtime head coach Jeff Judkins, who told The Salt Lake Tribune he wasn’t ready to leave when the administration asked him to go.
Turning to Whiting was an unconventional pick from the start. Whiting was touted as a strong recruiter since she had extensive AAU coaching experience. Along with being a high school coach, she led an Adidas AAU team and was a leader with Utah Hard Knox — another high-level program in the state.
Whiting was able to bring in talented players. Her daughter, four-star guard Amari Whiting, flipped her commitment from Oregon to BYU. Delaney Gibb also signed with the Cougars and was the Big 12 freshman of the year this season.
But the talent never translated to wins.
The next head coach will work with a different athletic director. Tom Holmoe will step away this summer after 20 years. A potential candidate to replace Holmoe, deputy athletic director Brian Santiago, oversees women’s basketball. Santiago helped hire Whiting in 2022. He will be part of this search, too.
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