It’s obvious from their responses at Big 12 Media Day in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City that BYU head coach Amber Whiting and her daughter, sophomore guard Amari, are old hands at answering questions about their unique relationship.

“We go to get our nails done every two weeks and there’s no basketball talk, that’s a rule,” Amber Whiting said on Tuesday. “And my husband Trent taught me that I can’t break out game film of Amari for Sunday dinner because I can’t do that with any other player.”

Amari Whiting, who lost her senior year of high school due to an ACL injury, is the Cougars leading returning player in 2024-25 after averaging 10.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 33 starts.

“There’s definitely a line as soon as I step into the gym,” Amari Whiting said. “I feel like we do a pretty good job with our mother/daughter relationship. But as soon as I step into the gym it’s always ‘Coach’ or ‘Amber,’ never ‘Mom.'”

Amber Whiting has coached her daughter for ages. They led Burley High School to a state title in 2022 and Amari, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Idaho, chose the University of Oregon as her college destination but flipped to BYU when he mother got the job there.

“I got some advice from the coach at Oregon State, Fred Trenkle, who was coaching his son,” Amber Whiting said. “You’ll go through highs and lows in this business and to go through it with your kid means so much more. When we got our first Top 20 win last year (against No. 18 Baylor), to celebrate with my family and Amari was special. Then watching her battle back from the ACL and to help her get through that journey, that was great as well.”

Amari Whiting said she worked hard in the offseason to get ready for the rigors of the Big 12 schedule.

“Coming off the injury (last year), I was doing everything I could do to get cleared to play,” she said. “This offseason I have my body underneath me. It was time to make gains and get to work. That meant getting in the weight room and getting stronger so I don’t get knocked off my base in games. I needed to add to my bag. I was lifting and training every day, just doing everything I could to get better.”

Amber Whiting knows how she treats her daughter on the court influences other players on the team.

“We have to work on our relationship and it’s a two-way street when it becomes basketball time,” Amber Whiting said. “I know I can coach her hard. I make a joke that she’s not transferring anywhere, so If I can coach her hard I can coach everyone else hard. She embraces that so its good for her.”

Amari Whiting’s game is aggressive and emotional, which makes her new backcourt mate, Cal transfer Kemery Congdon, a perfect match.

“We compliment each other,” Congdon said. “She loves the downhill, she’s super aggressive and plays great defense. She’s an energizer that gets us going. I’m kind of a smooth playmaker, so we definitely balance each other. I’m excited to play with her for sure.”

Another question Amber Whiting has answered plenty in the offseason is how the Cougars will replace All-Big 12 forward Lauren Gustin, who graduated after leading the team in scoring (16.7 per game) and topping the country in rebounding (15.3).

“She was amazing for us,” Amber Whiting said. “Know we don’t have that luxury. It’s hard to ask one player to step up in those shoes. We’ve asked every individual player to step up their rebounding. No can replace her but everyone has to step up.”

Amber Whiting has handed the offense to assistant coach Lee Cummard and they have made some changes in the way the Cougars will attack on that end.

“We’ve revamped the way we play,” she said. “We’re just letting him roll with it. We’ll play a little bit faster and shoot more threes.”

BYU will also be without freshman Kailey Woolston (81 3-pointers, 13.3 points per game). Woolston is serving a church mission in Maryland. In addition to Congdon, the Cougars also added transfers Marya Hudgins (Santa Clara), Hattie Ogden (Buffalo) and Kendra Gillespie (Baylor/Arkansas State). A five-member freshman class is led by Canadian Delaney Gibb.

“The challenge this summer was trying to find a starting five,” Amber Whiting said. “They went at it every day. I’ll have a lot more depth than I had last year, for sure. There’s a fine balance between too many or too little minutes. We have a lot of girls who are hungry and ready to step up. I’m excited to see what they can do. At the end of last year we were really banged up, so I need to be better at rotating through our players.”

The Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament’s championship game is scheduled for Sunday, March 9. League commissioner Brett Yormark announced on Tuesday that if the Cougars earn a spot in the title game, it will be moved to Monday. BYU teams do not compete on Sundays.

The Cougars, which finished 16-17 overall and 6-12 in Big 12 play last season and are picked to finish 12th in league play, take on Westminster in an exhibition game Oct. 29 and open their preseason schedule Nov. 6 against Idaho. Both games will be in the Marriott Center.