Mom was right. It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt — and when injuries appear, everything changes — and the fun goes right out the door. The notion is universal and ranges from kids playing football in the family room to the highest level of sport.
Somewhere between the end of her Big 12 Freshman of the Year season, a bronze-medal run with the Canadian Senior National Team at the 2025 FIBA Women’s America’s Cup, and the first day of fall practice at BYU, Delaney Gibb pulled up lame.
The freedom she enjoyed cutting to the basket or stopping on a dime to drop a jump shot slipped away due to a lingering lower-leg injury. For Gibb, what had always come easy was now difficult.
“Sitting out, I actually learned a lot. It was kind of nice to take a step back and gain a different perspective. It was super fun to watch these younger girls and watch their confidence grow.”
— BYU guard Delaney Gibb
“It’s frustrating,” she said. “At the start of the season I tried to play through it, but it wasn’t feeling good. I didn’t feel I was playing to the best of my ability.”
Being hurt wasn’t the only thing Gibb had to adjust to after her debut season, where she averaged a BYU freshman-record 17.4 points per game.
“It’s been a whole new experience all around. I came in as a freshman, I feel like I played a completely different role than I’m playing now. I produced a lot offensively and played hard on defense, but I was a freshman,” Gibb said. “Coming into this year, we have a new head coach, my body is not feeling right and I have a completely new role — definitely challenging.”
After watching her 16-point effort against Fresno State on Nov. 15, where Gibb made 1 of 6 3-point shots and had a team-high eight turnovers, first-year head coach Lee Cummard shut down his top gun for more than a month.
“There is a lot that goes into performing,” Cummard said. “You have to have the talent, which she has. You have to have the cardio capacity, and there is a rhythm and timing that goes into it. Those all must be aligned or you are not going to play as good as you can play.”
Misaligned, Gibb watched from the side for eight games while her body healed.
“I think that’s the longest I’ve ever not played basketball,” Gibb said. “It was tough coming back, just trying to regain confidence in my body and trusting that I can plant and push off and jump and land and not feel any pain.”
Down and out, after a preseason of international hope and hype, Gibb had to dig deep to fight off the emotional Goliath of feeling like a fallen star.
“It’s already challenging enough when you’re out of sync, out of rhythm, your cardio isn’t where it needs to be, and Delaney is extremely hard on herself,” Cummard said. “I can’t imagine what she was feeling.”
Gibb’s return
With Gibb recouping, BYU’s band of newcomers went 7-1 and rolled into conference play with an 11-1 record. Considering the team won 14 games all last season, the trajectory was transformative — both for the players and for their star who was ready to start shining again.
“Sitting out, I actually learned a lot,” Gibb said. “It was kind of nice to take a step back and gain a different perspective. It was super fun to watch these younger girls and watch their confidence grow. It gave me confidence knowing that we have a great team and it was so fun to watch them play together.”
Gibb’s return against UCF on Dec. 20 was celebrated by freshman Olivia Hamlin, who has emerged as BYU’s second-leading scorer (12.3) behind Gibb (17.4).
“I think Delaney is a very vocal leader, which we really need,” said Hamlin, a two-time 4A Player of the Year at Snow Canyon High in Santa Clara, Utah. “Delaney is one of those players that can tell us where to be. She makes us better.”
Understandably, Gibb’s production has fluctuated in her return. Last week, she scored a season-high 28 points against No. 22 West Virginia, but Wednesday on a cold-shooting night at Oklahoma State, she was held to 11. The Cougars are also struggling to reduce turnovers, but Gibb’s presence on the floor provides a bolt of hope.
“As you see her get further away from being out, her rhythm, her timing, her cardio capacity is no longer an issue — most of the time,” Cummard said. “Now all three of those are working in her favor and she is back to being who we all know she is. In all my time coaching men and women, it’s not easy to be out and then to come back and just play amazing. All those things have to be aligned.”
Star power
Any truthful star will tell you it’s not easy being one.
Those glamorous moments of game-winning shots, touchdown passes or kills at the net mask the blood, sweat and tears required to make them happen — and glory doesn’t show up every night. Truth be told, if being a star was easy, there would be more of them.
“The star is by far the hardest role on any team,” said Cummard, who starred on his own team and led BYU to three consecutive Mountain West Conference championships. “It’s by far the hardest role in my experience. It’s also what we all live for and want as competitors. We want that moment, that pressure, that limelight, that opportunity.”
Cummard, the 2008 MWC Player of the Year, is coaching Gibb to keep the blueprint for her bounce-back as simple as possible.
“There are a lot of weapons. You have a lot of help. You don’t have to do it all,” he told her. “We have really talented players that can alleviate some of that. Pick your spots to be you.”
Getting back to her old, but young, self can’t happen soon enough for the sophomore from Raymond, Alberta, Canada. Her patience runs thin at times, but in the big picture, Gibb sees progress.
“I feel like I’m starting to get a groove back. I think my teammates have really helped with that,” she said. “They believe in me and that gives me so much confidence.”
Gibb’s faith in her teammates is also increasing and it’s never more evident than when the star guard passes up her own shot for one of theirs.
“That’s the best part,” Hamlin said. “Sometimes I just get to the corner and think, ‘Whoa, she passed it to me. I’ve got to make it now!’”
Career day
Gibb’s best day at BYU was last March at NCAA Tournament-bound Utah. She made 13 of 18 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers, and finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-73 defeat.
“For me, it was like, ‘I’m going to go get it.’ My favorite part was the 10 rebounds,” she said. “My teammates did a great job in getting me in situations where I could succeed.”
The Cougars (15-6, 4-5) host the Utes (15-6, 6-3) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+). The fact that Gibb was only 11 the last time BYU beat Utah at home (2017) is circumstantial. What matters is that, at age 20, the preseason All-Big 12 performer is back healthy, happy and ready to go.
“I think she is one of the top guards in the country. When she has her groove and she’s in rhythm, it’s hard to guard her,” Cummard said. “She is a four-level player — she gets to rim; she can shoot a pullup; she can kill you from 3 and she is a really good free-throw shooter. She has to continue to learn how to manage a game, but we are super fortunate to have her at BYU because she makes everybody better.”
Injuries can certainly take the fun out of sports, but when they heal, the restoration is rejuvenating — especially for a star like Gibb, who BYU is counting on to shine brighter than ever before.
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.