In 2005, Lee Cummard first arrived at BYU as the Cougars’ latest prized basketball prospect.
More than 1,500 points, 97 victories and two All-American selections later, Cummard cemented his place as an all-time program great in Provo.
Now, two decades after his basketball journey at BYU began, he’ll attempt to author a new winning legacy on the Marriott Center hardwood — this time as the head coach of the Cougars’ women’s squad, with his hiring to the position officially announced Monday.
“At BYU, there is a tradition of winning, OK? There’s a commitment to it, and I fully intend to live up to that commitment and that winning tradition,” Cummard said in his introductory address Monday at the Marriott Center Annex in Provo.
“As I told the players earlier today, excellence is the expectation. That’s how we do everything. It’s in our mindset, it’s in our approach to things, it’s in our preparation, it’s how we work. That’s the expectation, and they know that and they’re wanting that.
Cummard said he arrived 20 years ago “as a kid that really didn’t know what he was getting involved in here at BYU. The way that this place has shaped my life has been tremendous. I’ve grown in every aspect of my life, as a person in my spiritual walk, and I’ve grown tremendously in my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
“I want everyone to know that that’s where we’re going with this program. We want everybody that comes here to be who they are supposed to be. I shared that with the group this morning, that whoever you’re supposed to be, that’s what the expectations are for you, and I know that they’ll improve as individuals on the court, but most importantly, off the court.”
Cummard, a BYU women’s assistant since 2019, was named the team’s interim head coach after Amber Whiting parted ways with the program on March 8.
However, it became clear for athletic director Tom Holmoe and his fellow decision-makers that Cummard was “the right coach at the right time for here at BYU,” leading Holmoe to remove Cummard’s interim tag for what may be the veteran AD’s final major coaching hire of his career.
“He’s tough,” Holmoe said of Cummard. “He has this right balance between fire and ice. He can be strong, he can be tough, he can be very competitive. He also can be compassionate. He can be ...