Connecting the dots in Lee Cummard’s life reveals a game-changing moment in the summer of 2019 that has everything to do with where he is in 2026.
When word came down that BYU was making a change at the top of the men’s basketball program, Cummard knew his job as one of Dave Rose’s assistant coaches was over. As he pondered the future, the former Cougars star thought he might be done coaching too.
Advertisement
“I was actually going to get out. I was going to get out,” Cummard told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “I have a ton of family in (the) insurance (business) in Arizona. I was down the path with a few big companies.”
Cummard had his insurance license and commercial license in hand.
“I was like, ‘Hey guys, I’m ready to go! What are we doing?’” he said. “For whatever reason, it just prolonged.”
What seemed strange to Cummard at the time soon made perfect sense. The options with the insurance companies stalled just long enough for an unexpected opportunity to open up.
“The week that they finally came to the table, that Monday, is when conversations started with coach Judkins,” Cummard said. “He thought there was a good opportunity (for me).”
Advertisement
Jeff Judkins, the winningest coach in BYU women’s basketball history, had an opening on his staff after Dan Nielson left for the head job at Utah Valley.
“We talked a couple of times,” said Cummard, who peppered Judkins with questions, including, “‘You went from the men’s side to the women’s side. What’s the difference? Can I even do this? Will I be able to reach and connect with the players?’ He boosted me with confidence and said, ‘Hey, you will be great! We have a great team. Come be a part of this.’”
Empowered by a patriarchal blessing that said he would spend his life in an area of sports, Cummard was impressed to pass on selling insurance and joined Judkins’ staff. As time would reveal, Cummard was much more than an assistant coach: He was BYU’s insurance policy for the future.
Advertisement
“I have just seen it play out in that way. I don’t think that was coincidence. Although sometimes I wonder — all my family does extremely well (selling insurance) — cousins, uncles, brothers and they live an unbelievable life,” he laughed. “(But) this is where I’m supposed to be. I’m sure of it.”
Judkins retired after the 2022 season. New coach Amber Whiting retained Cummard and promoted him to associate head coach. When Whiting was dismissed last year, Cummard was named head coach and in his first year, he led the Cougars to 26 wins.
Notable differences
As Cummard has learned, there are noticeable differences between the game he played and coached with the men and the one he is coaching now with the women.
Advertisement
“On the court, I think it’s very similar. I think the women are a lot more receptive to the pure side of the game — dribbling, passing, shooting,” he said. “The only other difference is the conversations are a little bit different — on the team and in the locker room. There is a lot more dancing on the women’s side.”
Relationships are a bit different too.
“The recruiting process is huge and (with) the current roster, that relationship means a whole lot,” Cummard said. “The NIL world is kind of turning that on its head a little bit because it makes it a little more transactional and there is a number involved with it and they feel that differently. Overall, it’s the same. You want to play good basketball, play solid defense, take good shots, value it, don’t throw it to the other team and be tough.”
First-year surprise
During Cummard’s first season, the Cougars (26-12) doubled their win total from the previous year. They defeated Utah three times and won nine of their last 11 games to end the season feeling good about the future.
Advertisement
Along the way, Cummard learned a lot about himself and how he thinks.
“The amount of thoughts that run through your head, I wasn’t prepared for that. I stew and think through things deeply a lot. I probably should get better at that as we go forward,” he said. “I knew you had to make a lot of decisions, but it just seems like there is decision after decision after decision — especially in that first year.”
Managing through a 9-9 Big 12 record and reaching the championship game of the WBIT have done wonders for his mindset.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “I’m now to a point where I can focus if I’m on a walk and listening to an audiobook or podcast where probably the first 10 months, there was no chance. That was the most surprising.”
Advertisement
Looking ahead
Returning most of the firepower from last year’s group, including two-time All-Big 12 first-team performer Delaney Gibb, Cummard is eager for his second season, but not before a long summer of improvements.
“We have to become better shooters. We have to make more shots, and we have to value the basketball more,” he said. “The 3-point percentage needs to improve, our overall shooting percentage needs to improve, and our turnover percentage is too high, and we need to improve it.”
Years from now, the connected dots in Cummard’s career will show how well he coached and recruited, but none will be bigger than the dot of 2019, which kept him in the game and out of selling insurance.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
