“Sydney is an all-around talent that impacts the game in so many ways,” Cummard said. “She can score it, assist it, steal it and plays the game with a winner’s mentality. Sydney is a winner on the court and in life. We are so excited for her to join our team and bring her high character and basketball abilities to better our program.”

Benally comes to BYU from Sandia High School in Albuquerque, N.M., where she was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons (2023-24 & 2024-25). ESPN HoopGurlz ranked Benally the 88th-best player in the class of 2025. During her senior season for the Matadors, she averaged 20 points on 50.8 percent shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.2 steals per game.

The four-star recruit scored 10 or more points in 28 of 30 games, 20 points or more 18 times and recorded a 30-point performance during her final season of high school basketball. The 5-foot-9 guard led the Matadors to a 30-1 record and their second-consecutive New Mexico 5A State Title en route to being named the 2025 5A Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American nominee.

Benally chose to continue her basketball career at BYU over the likes of Princeton, Northwestern and UNLV.

Robinson earns Big 12 baseball award

IRVING, Texas — After a four-game stretch featuring five doubles and two home runs, BYU shortstop Ryder Robinson was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.

Robinson becomes the second Cougar of the season to earn the league’s Player of the Week honor, following first baseman Cooper Vest who shared the week-two award with Nu’u Contrades of ASU on Feb. 24.

In four games during week 10, Robinson helped BYU to a 9-3 win over Utah Valley and a 12-5 upset of now No. 16 Arizona on April 15 and 17, respectively. Robinson collected five doubles over four games while registering 10 hits on 19 at bats with four runs scored, two homers, five RBI and 21 total bases. For the week, Robinson slugged 1.105 and totaled an on-base percentage of .550.

The 6-foot-2 shortstop continued his leadership of the Cougar infield with a perfect fielding percentage highlighted by two putouts and eight assists over four games. Robinson enters week 11 ranked second in the Big 12 in total assists with 111.

On the season, Robinson is now ranked third among BYU batters in runs scored (35), home runs (7) and total bases (75).

The sophomore switch hitter from American Fork, Utah joined the Cougars following his freshman season at TCU in 2024. While with the Horned Frogs a season ago, Robinson scored 24 runs on 32 hits with seven doubles, two home runs and 20 RBI while starting 43 of 47 games played.

A product of American Fork High School, Robinson helped the Cavemen to three state championships while garnering a list of honors as a senior that included 2023 Utah Gatorade and Prep Baseball Report Player of the Year, as well as ABCA/Rawlings High School Second Team All-America.

Kamoku named Big 12 Player of the Week for softball

BYU softball infielder Keila Kamoku was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday morning.

Kamoku led the Cougars to a 4-0 week, hitting .600 and slugging 1.000 across their four games. The senior tallied a team-high nine RBI, hammered two homers and drew one walk in BYU’s series sweep of Utah, its second sweep in Big 12 play this season.

She hit home runs in games one and three, helping fuel the sweep with a .667 average and 1.167 slugging percentage in the trio of games against the Utes. The Kapolei, Hawai’i native also finished with a perfect fielding percentage on six chances at third base.

Kamoku is the first Cougar to earn a weekly conference award this season. BYU is on the road this week, beginning a three-game series at Baylor on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN+.