Rigby’s Kambree Barber didn’t grow up knowing she’d go to BYU, but she’s glad she did

PROVO (KSL.com) — Kambree Barber was the difference for the BYU women’s basketball team last week.

The freshman missed the Cougars’ midweek home game against Colorado, a 67-66 loss to the Buffaloes that capped a run of five consecutive defeats in Big 12 play, after being in concussion protocol from a blow to the head she suffered against in-state rival Utah. But three nights later, Barber was back — and preparing for her first career start — on the road.

Good thing, too.

The 6-foot freshman from Rigby, Idaho, was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week Monday after a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double in her first career start, a 77-67 win over Arizona State at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.

Barber is the second BYU player to win Big 12 freshman honors during the 2024-25 season, joining teammate Delaney Gibb’s six distinctions. In all, the Cougars (11-10, 2-8 Big 12) have won the honor for four straight weeks and six of the last seven.

That it came in her first career start is nice, Barber admits. But more important was that it came in a win, the Cougars’ first since Jan. 8 against Houston that snapped a five-game losing skid before Wednesday’s home tip against UCF (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+).

“Coach gave me a lot of confidence going into the game, reassuring me that it was a spot I deserved. I was a lot more calm with it,” Barber told KSL.com. “I felt like we came out with good energy, and we talked well — it felt the same as if I were coming off the bench.”

Barber was a two-sport star at Rigby High, an all-conference basketball and volleyball player, and Post Register All-Area Player of the Year as a junior who was also recruited by Boise State, Saint Mary’s and Utah Valley.

One of five children of Todd and Erin Barber, the family grew up BYU fans — but far from diehards, she admits. Barber said the first time she went to a basketball camp on the Provo campus was during her freshman year in high school, but it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight, like it is with a lot of recruits.

“We were fans of BYU, but we weren’t crazy fans of BYU; it kind of just happened,” Barber explained. “It felt right, and I felt like this was where I needed to go. It’s been awesome since I got here.”

Eventually, BYU coach Amber Whiting — who coached about two hours away at Burley High — won her over. That’s how Barber became one of four players on the BYU women’s basketball roster from Idaho in Whiting’s third season and earned her first starting nod Saturday night.

“I feel like she’s been earning it consistently, rebounding and doing all the little things in practice and in games,” Whiting said. “I think she probably would’ve started the game before, too, but she got a concussion in the Utah game so that didn’t work out.

“But she honestly has earned it, every last minute. We all see what she can do, and she displayed that, which I was happy for.”

A 6-foot guard who plays a variety of positions defensively, Barber has found a nose for the glass even before she scored in double figures for just the second time of her freshman campaign on a career-best 7-of-9 shooting. Her 12.0 rebounds per game led all freshman in the Big 12 last week, and her 5.1 boards average in conference games would rank eighth in the league but is not included in the Big 12 stats.

“Some kids just have a nose for the ball, and that’s her in a nutshell,” Whiting said.

But Barber isn’t a volume shooter, either; she’s converted at a 47.1% field-goal clip, but has taken just 70 shots in 15.6 minutes per game — just 3.5 shots per game.

If she wanted to contribute as a freshman, which she did, Barber knew she’d have to do it with rebounding and defense.

“I knew coming in I’d have to work hard to even get minutes on the court,” she said. “I just put my mind toward working in the gym. But I wanted to be able to get on the court, and provide for my team and do something that no other athlete could do. That really motivated me.

“It’s really exceeded what I thought.”

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