Rocking Royal

BYU alum Cole Semu is ready for 'Storm Week,' debut for Utah Warriors

Former BYU All-American and Major League Rugby rookie Cole Semu speaks with KSL.com after getting called up to the 23-man travel roster ahead of the Utah Warriors' road match Saturday, April 12, 2025 at RFC Los Angeles — the beginning of a 35-day, 7-match run that will likely include Semu's pro debut as Utah embarks on 'Storm Week' and a pivotal stretch of the 2025 season.
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🚨 BIG NEWS 📰 4-star TE Brock Harris commits to BYU football 🚨

Four-star tight end Brock Harris joins the show to talk about his recent commitment to BYU, his plans for the future, and his upcoming senior year at Pine View High School in St. George.
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More than a number: Carsen Ryan is ready for a Perfect 20 season

BYU tight end Carsen Ryan joins Sean Walker for a post-spring football edition of the Rocking Royal podcast, where the former Timpview and American Fork High standout talks about transferring home to play close to family; his family's legacy with the No. 20 jersey; and his expectations for his senior season at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Lee Cummard is the next head coach of BYU women's basketball

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe announced former BYU star and 2008 Mountain West player of the year Lee Cummard as the eighth head coach in BYU women's basketball history Monday, succeeding Whiting with the first head coaching job of his career.
"Lee has been an important part of our BYU Athletics family for many years," Holmoe said. "His time as a star player on the men's team, and a member of both the men's and women's basketball coaching staffs, gives him valuable experience and connection in this important position.
"He has displayed a loyal commitment to BYU and understands the valuable mission of our university. He will be able to retain key players and recruit those that will fit, excel and align at BYU."
Cummard joined the Rocking Royal podcast to discuss his preparation for the job, reaching out to recruits amid a coaching change, and celebrating his 40th birthday with a chance to lead a team at his alma mater.
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Mawot Mag keys BYU's Sweet 16 run, return to New Jersey to face Alabama

The most popular person in BYU's open locker room Wednesday ahead of the Cougars' Round of 16 tournament tilt with Alabama wasn't necessarily "Tater Tot King" and leading scorer Richie Saunders, veteran Trevin Knell, or five-star freshman Egor Demin.
Those guys had their own crowds. But the swelling crowd belonged to Mawot Mag, the Cougars' defensive specialist who was making a return to New Jersey after four years at Rutgers. Mag has been a key spark in the Cougars' first Sweet 16 appearance since 2011, especially with his stop against Wisconsin's Robert Tonje that sealed a 91-89 win over Wisconsin in Denver last week.
Now he got to address the media in the Garden State to talk about his transfer, his time in Piscataway, and how he's adapted to BYU and first-year head coach Kevin Young in making history for the Cougars.
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BYU men's basketball is Sweet 16 bound + former Cougar great Charles Abouo

BYU men's basketball is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011 with NCAA Tournament wins over VCU and Wisconsin at Ball Arena — or is that, Marriott East? — in Denver, Colorado.
Can first-year coach Kevin Young and the Cougar Cagers do it again in a place where they likely won't have quite as many fans, taking on No. 2-seeded Alabama in Newark, New Jersey?
Sean Walker was in Denver following the team, and he caught up with former BYU standout and current graduate assistant Charles Abouo to talk about the current squad, winning tournament games with Jimmer Fredette and Brandon Davies, and some similarities between this year's team and those ones.
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Rocking Royal: BYU basketball a trendy pick in the Madness, but VCU won't make it easy

After a 24-8 regular season and 14-6 mark in the Big 12, BYU men's basketball turns its attention to finding its One Shining Moment.
 
The Cougars are back in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years, and will open Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver against 11th-seeded VCU (2:05 p.m. MDT, TNT). The winner of that East regional game will face the winner of Wisconsin and Big Sky champion Montana in Saturday's second round.
 
It's the 32nd all-time appearance for BYU (24-9), which is 15-34 in the program's NCAA Tournament history and 3-3 as a No. 6 seed.
 
Led by former Utah State coach Ryan Odom, the Rams (28-6) are A-10 champions after a 68-63 win over George Mason on Selection Sunday to earn the program's 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and 14th since 2004.
 
They're led by Utah State transfer Max Shulga, one of four double-figure scorers averaging 15.6 points per game en route to the No. 31 rating in the NET and No. 30 rating in KenPom.
 
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Rocking Royal » No. 23 BYU basketball rides 6-win streak + BYU CB coach Jernaro Gilford on spring football

The 23rd-ranked Cougars seem to be peaking at the right time, and have locked up an NCAA Tournament bid for the third time in five years. That's according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who moved BYU into one of six locks from the Big 12 for the field of 68.
BYU ranks 23rd in the Associated Press Top 25, 26th in the NCAA's preferred evaluation tool (or NET rankings), and 25th in KenPom's predictive metrics. The Cougars have been playing like the third-best team in the country during their six-game winning streak that started Feb. 11 at West Virginia, according to barttorvik.com.
We also caught up with BYU cornerbacks coach and recently promoted defensive passing game coordinator Jernaro Gilford as the Cougars open spring camp to build on last year's 11-2 campaign and top-15 national finish.
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Rocking Royal Hoops » Why BYU's Marya Hudgins joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The BYU basketball programs (yes, plural!) had a really good weekend shortly after Valentine's Day.
First, the men's team beat Kansas State 80-65 at the Marriott Center in a game that honored the life of former Cougar cager Jake Shoff. BYU head coach Kevin Young said he wanted to win for Shoff and his family, including wife Emily and four sons who were in attendance Saturday night and in the postgame locker room — and BYU did so in a way that Shoff would've been proud to watch.
Earlier Saturday, the BYU women's basketball team earned its first AP Top 25 win since last February, 68-64 over then-No. 20 Oklahoma State in the biggest win of the year for head coach Amber Whiting.
But a day after the game, the Cougars celebrated an even bigger milestone: the baptism of junior guard Marya Hudgins, who joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after several months of learning, studying and example of her teammates and coaches — particularly, associate head coach Lee Cummard, his wife Sarah and the couple's children.
Hudgins, who is the biggest Taylor Swift fan on the team, joined the Rocking Royal podcast to talk about her season, deciding to medically redshirt and return to BYU for two more years, and her decision to be baptized. 
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Rocking Royal Podcast » 2 DBs commit to BYU football | WBB coach Amber Whiting

BYU men's basketball collected back-to-back wins in Big 12 play for the first time under first-year head coach Kevin Young, and BYU football nabbed a pair of defensive back commitments in Lone Peak's Landan Goff and Jordyn Criss out of Arlington, Texas.
Elsewhere in the show, BYU women's basketball coach Amber Whiting talks about Delaney Gibb's improvement during her sensational freshman year and what the Cougars need to do to stop a four-game losing skid Wednesday against Colorado.
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