Director of athletics Tom Holmoe announced on Wednesday that former Cougar Amber Whiting has been hired as the head women’s basketball coach, replacing long-time coach Jeff Judkins, who retired in April after 21 years at the helm.

It will be Whiting, who has never coached at the college level, leading BYU into the Big 12 in 2023-24.

“I am thrilled to have Amber Whiting leading our BYU women’s basketball team,” Holmoe said. “Through our hiring process we discovered a coach with a well thought out, specific plan for the future of this team. Amber has had a unique and widespread experience in basketball, has a great feel for the women’s game and the direction it is heading at BYU, in the Big 12 and nationally.”

Whiting, from Ogden, Utah, becomes BYU’s seventh head coach since becoming an NCAA program in 1972.

“I am super excited about the opportunity to be the head coach at BYU,” Whiting said. “I’ve been in basketball my whole life playing, coaching and developing players, and I am looking forward to doing it again at this level. Coach Judkins established a great tradition of winning and a strong culture with some incredible players. I can’t wait to get on board and continue that legacy and surround myself with a great staff. I am ready to get to work.”

Whiting has served as the head coach of the Burley High School girls team in Idaho coming off a 2022 state championship, just the third in school history. She was named the 4A Idaho Statesman Coach of the Year, the conference coach of the year and helped the Bobcats to back-to-back region titles.

While at Burley, Whiting took a program with just five wins in her first year to improvement every year including three consecutive 20-win seasons, culminating in last year’s 25-1 season and title run. Whiting’s record as a head coach at Burley was 70-37 over four seasons. Her daughter, Amari, was the MaxPreps Idaho Player of the Year, averaging 27 points per game as a junior. She is committed to the University of Oregon.

In addition to coaching at the high school level, Amber Whiting has also been the head coach for the Adidas 17U 3SSB Select Team for the Spring/Summer Shoe Circuit for the Natalie Williams Basketball Academy.

Whiting has directed Utah Hard Knox, one of the most successful AAU programs in Utah, consistently producing Division I talent for both men’s and women’s programs across the state.

A standout at Snow College, Whiting was the team MVP for two straight years and was an All-America honorable mention in 1999 as a member of the SWAC All-Tournament team. She led team in scoring and assists and was honored as the Female Athlete of the Year in 1997 at Freemont High School.

Whiting was an All-Region Team selection in back-to-back season with the Badgers. Following her two-year career with Snow College, Whiting went on to play one season at Weber State where she averaged 5.0 points per game before transferring to BYU for the 2000-01 season.

Whiting graduated from BYU with a degree and teaching credential in history in 2001 with a minor in psychology. She went on to earn a master’s degree in professional learning communities from Grand Canyon.

She is married to former NJCAA All-American men’s player Trent Whiting, who played at Snow College and Utah before finishing his collegiate career at BYU in 2001 where he averaged 14.2 points per game and was an all-conference selection.

Trent played professionally overseas in Italy for 12 years. The couple has two children, Jace and Amari. Jace recently returned from a mission in Finland and has signed to play basketball at Boise State. Amari will be entering her senior year of high school next year.