KANSAS CITY — Delaney Gibb has grown up quickly at BYU.
Two years ago, she arrived in Provo as a highly-touted high school prospect and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year by a unanimous vote.
Last year, she earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and led the Cougars to the WBIT championship game.
Now, ahead of her junior campaign, Gibb finds herself as the face of BYU's program — and its longest-tenured player. She's a rising star within the sport — a legitimate conference Player of the Year or even All-America candidate.
But all that currently matters to Gibb is helping bring BYU back to the NCAA Tournament.
"I want to be on a winning team. I want to have a team that does really well in this league," Gibb told the Deseret News.
"Obviously, the Big 12 is a really good league, and it's tough. You have to prepare for every single game and show up every single night. I want us to be the top team in this league. I want to make a great run in the postseason."
With such higher expectations comes increased attention, but Gibb is no stranger to the spotlight. She was featured in a "College GameDay" segment on ESPN earlier this month ahead of BYU's football matchup with Notre Dame, and even appeared on Fox News in April to discuss her faith after her explanation for not practicing on Sundays went viral online.
While she's admittedly "not a huge social media person," Gibb does boast nearly 30,000 combined followers between Instagram and TikTok.
Her head coach, Lee Cummard , recalls Gibb being "quiet" and "almost silent" as a freshman, but now teammates are calling her the loudest player on the team. "She's come a long way in her leadership," Cummard said.
As one of just four upperclassmen on BYU's roster, Gibb is embracing her newfound charge as a leader, which she feels has come naturally thus far.
"Honestly, it's really easy when you have a group of girls that you really love," Gibb said. "When you're just around a group of people that you really enjoy to be around, it's easy to be able to cheer them on and to build their confidence, and during the tough times to get on them and hold them accountable."
Added teammate and roommate Olivia Hamlin: "(Delaney) makes you want to play better and harder."
Through 60 career college outings, Gibb owns averages of 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
During BYU's WBIT run last season, she scored more than 20 points each night and shot 42% from 3-point range.
Yet Gibb is eyeing new ways to contribute on the court.
"I just want to impact the game in so many more ways than I have been," she said. "I've been a key scorer for our team, but I want to be a great playmaker. I've focused a lot on that, (such as) reads out of the pick and roll, stuff like that, trying to find ways to help my team be successful."
Finding new ways to impact the game became a prime focus for Gibb during her summer with the Canadian Senior National Team, where she competed in the FIBA women's Olympic pre-qualifying tournament in Mexico.
Playing alongside veteran professionals, Gibb was utilized as more of a complementary piece for Canada rather than her typical top-option status at BYU, coming off the bench to average 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in the event.
"It was a super cool experience ... I think what I want to bring back to my team is the importance of roles," Gibb said. "I went there and I had a completely different role than I have here at BYU. It was really cool. It can be difficult to understand and navigate, but it's something that really makes a team successful."
BYU has been picked to finish seventh in the 16-team Big 12, with Gibb named to the league's All-Preseason team in unanimous fashion once again.
The Cougars, who are returning three other non-Gibb starters and more than 70% of last year's scoring production, haven't reached the NCAA Tournament since 2022. As much as Gibb wants to change that, she knows it isn't something she can do on her own.
But she loves the group she'll attempt to do it with.
"Our team is really fun. We have a group of girls that is really unselfish, we want what's best for the team. I think that's something that's just built within our program, even just the (other) programs at BYU," Gibb said.
"We just have built a culture where everyone genuinely cares about each other and is really just wanting to win and do whatever they can to help the team."
Delaney Gibb, Olivia Hamlin, Sydney Benally and Lee Cummard are pictured at Big 12 basketball media days on Oct. 21, 2026 in Kansas City. | BYU Photo
