With basketball season approaching, Paisley Johnson-Harding is back at BYU.
This time, the former Cougar guard won’t be lacing up her shoes to play. She’ll be coaching from the sidelines.
Johnson-Harding has returned to Provo as an assistant coach for the BYU women’s basketball team, just in time for the new season to tip off.
During her time as a player at BYU, she was known for her confidence, leadership, and energy on the court, leading the Cougars to three NCAA Tournament appearances and two conference titles, the 2019 WCC Tournament title and the 2022 WCC regular season championship.
Now, she’s bringing that same passion to the coaching staff, led by first-year coach Lee Cummard.
Harding said the decision to come back to BYU felt natural.
“I kept asking myself, ‘Okay, how do I get back to BYU? How do I get back to my people?’” she said. “Once Lee got the job, I thought there might be a good opportunity. I didn’t expect it to be as an assistant coaching role, but I’m very grateful for it. His opportunity led to mine, and I was super excited about that.”
Cummard said Harding “loves this place and is committed to helping these athletes and this program excel. Paisley is an extremely hard worker, a team player, and aligns perfectly with the values of our program and this university. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have one of the all-time greats back in our program.”
Her journey has come full circle — from BYU player to BYU coach — and she’s ready to help lead the Cougars into another season of Big 12 basketball.