Why BYU didn’t step in a gym before Monday’s WBIT semifinal in Wichita
The day before the biggest game of its season, you couldn’t find anyone from the BYU women’s basketball team in a gym on Sunday.
With a Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament national semifinal against Kansas looming Monday at Koch Arena, the Cougars spent the day away from basketball entirely. Owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, BYU does not participate in Sunday athletic activities, whether that means games, practices or postseason preparation.
The top-seeded Cougars (25-11) will play second-seeded KU (22-13) in a Big 12 rematch at 4 p.m. Monday in Wichita broadcast on ESPNU with a spot in the WBIT title game at stake.
“There are things that are bigger than basketball,” BYU sophomore guard Delany Gibb said. “Jesus Christ and having faith in him is something that’s bigger than basketball.”
While some might see that as a disadvantage on the eve of such a critical game, BYU’s players and coaches insist they view it differently.
“Obviously, we don’t have that day to prepare and to be able to improve and get better,” Gibb said. “So when you’re looking at it from that standpoint, it might seem unfair or just a bit more challenging, but I think when you step back and look at it from a perspective of our team and the culture that we’ve built and the faith that we have, it’s a day that we get to have a different perspective on life.“
That perspective is central to understanding why BYU is comfortable doing something few teams in the country would willingly choose on the doorstep of a semifinal. The Cougars do not see Sunday as lost preparation time. They see it as a deliberate pause, a chance to breathe, worship, reset and remember that their identity is not supposed to begin and end with basketball.
BYU sophomore guard Brinley Cannon described it less as a burden than a benefit.
“Sabbath day worship is really important to me,” Cannon said. “I think that there’s a lot of pros that come from taking that day a week to focus on things that are bigger than basketball.
“It’s just a day to rest and reflect and just recenter my life on Jesus Christ and what he’s done for me and for all of us. And honestly, I think it really helps to have that day for us to come back Monday, everyone’s rejuvenated, everyone’s kind of had their break and rested and recentered and ready to focus.”
That mindset helps explain why BYU’s players pushed back at the suggestion that Sunday observance automatically puts them behind. They understand the practical argument. One less day on the court means one less day for walkthroughs, film-based adjustments and fine-tuning a scouting report. But they also believe there is a tradeoff worth making: less rehearsal, perhaps, but more clarity.
And there is evidence, at least recently, that backs up their claims.
BYU took the Sunday off before its Round of 16 WBIT game against Missouri, then returned Monday and played one of its sharpest games of the season in a 93-75 victory.
The Cougars, who have won eight of their last nine games, arrive in Wichita on a roll and looking for revenge from an 81-60 loss to KU in Lawrence on Feb. 4.
And that is what makes BYU’s approach so unusual in a sport built on repetition and routine. Most teams would treat the day before their season was on the line as essential. BYU treats it as sacred.
Head coach Lee Cummard said the comments from his players reflect the maturity of a team that knows exactly what it values.
“We’re a program of faith,” Cummard said. “It’s not just our faith... there’s several faiths represented within our program and we have that Sabbath day for everybody to kind of reflect and have the day off.”
Cummard said the practice is deeply woven into the rhythm of the program, not something dusted off for public discussion in March.
“I’ve been at BYU for a long time and I can’t think of maybe two times on the road where we’ve actually done anything that had anything to do with preparing for a game,” Cummard said. “So it’s something that I really value that I know every Sabbath day I’m going to be at home with my wife and kids and be able to worship the way that I choose.”
For him, that consistency matters. Sunday remains Sunday, whether it falls in June or at the Final Four of a postseason tournament.
So on the eve of the most important game on BYU’s schedule, the Cougars prepared in a way that looks foreign to much of the basketball world. They did not spend the day in a practice gym in Wichita. They did not use those hours to rehearse sets or tinker with coverages.
They will trust that the work already done is enough and that the day set aside for faith and reflection matters more than squeezing in one more practice.
To some, that may sound like an obstacle.
To BYU, it is simply who they are.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 6:02 AM.
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