Ryle High School 6‑foot‑6 post player Jayden McClain has been planning her basketball future since most kids are still figuring out middle‑school lockers. Grow and improve. Get to college. Shoot for the highest level possible and let the rest unfold. That blueprint just took its biggest step yet.
Last week, the incoming sophomore — one of the nation’s top girls basketball recruits — announced she’s staying in the Commonwealth. McClain, ranked No. 12 nationally in ESPN’s class of 2029, made a verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky with a simple declaration that ended with: “I’m all in.”
It carried the weight of a statewide recruiting victory.
Her decision shuts the door on a national chase from heavyweights such as Ohio State, Florida State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and area powers Cincinnati and Xavier. Kentucky offered her early — back when she was a seventh grader — and never let up, even after a coaching change. Now, the Wildcats have landed one of the most coveted young players in the country.
For McClain, the choice wasn’t about geography so much as philosophy. She fell hard for the way third‑year Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks uses his bigger players.
“UK is the right place for me because Coach Brooks plays his bigs how I play,” McClain told a local news outlet. “Other schools usually keep their post just in the paint.”
Brooks’ system, which frees post players to float between the paint and the perimeter, sealed the deal. McClain wants to be more than a traditional center. She wants to shoot threes, hit mid‑range jumpers, run the floor, and — occasionally — bring the ball up herself.
That vision wasn’t always possible in Lexington. Before Brooks arrived, McClain didn’t consider Kentucky a serious option. But after watching practices, meeting the staff, and seeing how the Wildcats’ revamped system empowered players like Teonni Key and Clara Strack, the program transformed from an afterthought into her ideal destination.
McClain’s rise has been steady, public and impossible to ignore. She joined Ryle’s varsity as a seventh grader. As a freshman, she averaged 12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks while shooting a team‑best 54.6% from the field. She earned all‑state honorable mention and helped the Raiders reach the 9th Region semifinals for the eighth time in nine years. Her 128 blocks as an eighth grader set a single‑season program record, then she reset it as a freshman with 146.
“She can do so much with her height, and she can control her body despite being so tall,” Ryle coach Katie Haitz has said. “She can score inside, rebound, shoot, pass, and she has great anticipation. It’s fun to watch her block shots.”
Her development is no accident. McClain comes from a basketball family built for the paint. Her father, Anthony “Biggie” McClain, was a fan favorite at Cincinnati, where home crowds chanted his nickname whenever he checked in. A slender, top‑100 prospect, he muscled up under coach Mick Cronin, became a physical Big East presence, helped UC reach the 2011 Sweet 16, and later joined the Harlem Globetrotters. UK would love to see Jayden on a similar maturation path. Her mom, Samantha, is 6‑4 and played college basketball at Cincinnati State.
With that unique dynamic at play, Jayden’s recruiting attention began early. Offers poured in before she finished seventh grade, and she was taking college visits at age 12. Haitz said the key has been keeping her grounded.
“She has a lot of people who have her best interests at heart,” the coach said last season. “We want what’s best for her and keep things as normal as possible at school because she is still very young.”
Off the court, McClain has already stepped into the modern era of college athletics. She signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with EZ Sports Group, whose representative Trey Dees called her “one of the most promising incoming freshman prospects in the country” when she signed.
Kentucky’s rebuild under Brooks needed another foundational piece — someone who could anchor the future while symbolizing a new era. In McClain, the Wildcats landed both, and they found it in Union.
Robbins returns to Community Christian basketball
Ashtyn Robbins takes over a Community Christian Academy girls basketball team that is in transition. The school made the appointment at the end of the academic year. Robbins, a school alum, replaces Jay Acuff.
She returns to the program after a brief hiatus. Robbins is a former Community Christian Academy player and assistant under her father Dale Robbins. She also has been an assistant softball coach at the school.
Athletic director Mile Volz said there was considerable interest in the job.
“We wound up interviewing four candidates and we wound up going with Ashtyn,” he said. “We think she’s the right person to help us in a transitionary time with the team.”
The Community Christian girls basketball program is in the back half of a two-year transition period. The team has been competing in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association and put together a 10-7 record last season. It must decide if it wants to remain in the KCAA or move to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association after the 2026-27 season. Among the top returning players are Jolene Kinninger and Ella Jewel.
Community Christian Academy, not to be confused with Community Christian of Paducah, is a private, Pentecostal school located in Independence. It has 243 students in grades K-12, but just 60 high school students, half of them girls, with a reputation for preparing kids for college. Nearly 95% of students from Community Christian Academy go on to attend a four-year college.
McKenzie joins Calvary Christian baseball team
Calvary Christian is not an easy place to win high school baseball games. Despite its size, the tiny Covington school with fewer than 100 boys in grades 9-12, somehow pulls it off despite coaching turnover. The Cougars have put together five winning seasons in the past eight under four different head coaches.
With that recent history under its belt, Calvary Christian brings in another new baseball coach, it’s fourth different head man in six years, and he’s familiar with the successful program. Max McKenzie replaces Brandon Corbin, who guided the Cougars to a 10-14 record last season after an 8-7 start.
McKenzie, hired last month, has been assistant athletic director at Calvary Christian. He’s also a Calvary Christian graduate and a former Cougars baseball player, and he’s been an umpire. “This school has played a significant role in shaping who I am,” McKenzie said. “It is truly a blessing and an honor to have the opportunity to coach my alma mater.”
One of his goals is ending a postseason win drought. The last Cougars playoff win came in 2019 with a 15-0 conquest of Silver Grove under head man Jamey Hinkle, the coach from 2017-22. Before Hinkle, Calvary Christian had three head baseball coaches in a three-year span from 2014-16. McKenzie will be the eighth Cougars head baseball coach in 13 seasons.
McKenzie has also been part of the Northern Kentucky Baseball Umpires Association (NKBUA), the primary local officiating body sanctioned to work KHSAA high school baseball games across the northern Kentucky region.
Among the top talent who should be back for the Cougars are Finn Zachary and Case Craddock. Zachary hit .288 with an on-base percentage well over .450 as a junior. Craddock was second on the team with a .375 batting average and went 4-4 on the mound with a team-low 2.31 ERA as a freshman.