Time for trivia! Name the only sibling combo in the history of Kentucky high school athletics that has produced a Miss Kentucky Basketball award winner and a head coach who won a girls basketball state championship. If your answer is local legend Donna Murphy and brother Kes Murphy, please advance to the lightning round.
But first, check out this enlightening chat, a family-oriented conversation with Kes Murphy who joined the ever-expanding St. Henry District High School roster of stellar coaches while adding to his own extended family. He’s the Crusaders’ new head girls basketball coach after stepping away from the bench for a year.
It’s yet another major score for St. Henry and not too dissimilar from the hiring of Crusaders boys basketball coach Tim Sullivan in that Murphy also was a surprisingly available elite coaching talent on the rise who found a home at ever-welcoming St. Henry.
Murphy thought he was done coaching. St. Henry didn’t think he was available. Neither expected the other. But family, timing, and familiar faces changed everything. I caught up with coach Murphy after St. Henry made the big splash and talked about family, basketball, Crusaders girls basketball and more. Here is what he had to say in a question-and-answer format:
Question: You have an excellent career record of 309-139 in 15 seasons at Holy Cross and Notre Dame Academy, where you achieved remarkable success. You won 151 games, the 2015 girls All “A” Classic state championship and the 2015 KHSAA Sweet 16 state crown at Holy Cross, the first for a 9th Region girls team . You are a former state coach of the year there. Also, you won 158 games and six district titles in seven years at Notre Dame and took the Pandas to the regional final three times. NDA won the region when you were an assistant there earlier under Cheryl Darpel. Any school would want a coach with that kind of track record. With a résumé like that, however, you also have choices. Why did you take the St. Henry job. What is so attractive about that position?
Answer: Two weeks ago, I would have told you my coaching days were over. And my wife would certainly echo that statement. The primary draw was Grant Brannen the school principal who I’ve known for some time. My wife had a chance to see what he’s all about when our youngest child was given the opportunity to attend St. Henry. While considering the job, solid leadership and support were 100% top of mind. True to form, Grant and Jim Demler, the school athletic director, made it clear that instead of playing into politics and having the mindset that the customer is always right, they emphasized they would have my back. It was clear their focus is on making the right decision as opposed to the popular decision.
Despite the many conversations, my wife had zero desire to return to the arena based on past experiences. But St. Henry was uber persistent and every interaction just felt right. My agent eventually had a change of heart and signed off. The other factor was Marty Rankin, who’s essentially a head coach in his own right. We’ve been on the sideline together since our Holy Cross days. If he wasn’t in, I would not have returned.
Q: Who’s on your coaching staff?
A. Marty Rankin. Nicole Rice, formerly Nicole Dickman who played at Thomas More and was an All-American and I coached her at Notre Dame Academy back in the day with Cheryl Darpel when we won the region. Also, Mandy Finke and Mark Setters. I plan to add two or three more including two freshman coaches.
Q: Have you met your new St. Henry team yet?
A: Our team meeting has already occurred, and we’ve conducted our first open gym which gave the coaching staff an opportunity to assess and determine who we can be. I absolutely love what I’ve seen thus far. We’re guard heavy which is perfectly fine. Our kids are super hungry and locked in and it’s only May. Regarding next steps, we’re taking a week off to finalize our staff and our blueprint which we’ll introduce and begin implementing during our summer session.
Q: How would you briefly describe your coaching philosophy?
A: As a high school coach, you do the very best with what you’ve got. We’ll coach our kids to ensure they maximize their potential and we empower them in a way that as we evolve, they take 100% ownership and play at a high level whether I’m on the sideline or not. Offensively, we’ll lean on our individual and team strengths. Our playbook will ensure kids are placed in the right spot in order to have the opportunity to make and finish plays. Defensively, you already know. Our defense will travel.
Q: What would you say are realistic short-term goals and long-term goals for this team?
A: Our team goals will remain in house. But I’ll share the trophy I’m chasing for our kids and all those who are a part of the Cru community. I’ve had the opportunity to coach teams that have played and won on the biggest stages in the state of Kentucky: district championships, All “A” regional championships, All “A” state championship, KHSAA regional championships, the Sweet 16 state championship, the Queen of the Bluegrass Tournament, the LIT, the Kentucky/Indiana All-Star Series (where he was a ball boy as a kid and a participant as a coach). I’ve been fortunate to have had great teams and staffs that allowed me to check each box. The trophies I’m now chasing are to watch our St. Henry kids dance on our stage as though no one is watching and cutting nets. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
Q: Why the lifelong interest in basketball? Who fostered this interest in you. Briefly take us through your early days as a kid and what eventually led to you becoming a coach.
A: My family lived in Newport until I entered sixth grade. I attended Corpus Christi then. Once the school closed, I attended St. Ben’s in Covington for a year before moving to Florence. I attended Boone County High School and went on to earn a biology degree from Berea College. I played basketball at Boone and had intentions of playing at Berea, but my priorities changed so I hung it up. After graduating from Berea, my high school coach, Jay Mulchay, allowed me to join his staff at Boone as a freshman assistant. Coach Mulchay was that father figure who always looked out for me even after I graduated from Boone. He also gave me my first opportunity to coach and for that I’ll always be grateful.
Q: By simply being around your sister, Donna Murphy the first-ever Miss Kentucky Basketball, you literally had a front row seat to one of the greatest most significant high school basketball careers of any girl in the history of Kentucky. You want to elaborate on that?
A: My sister played basketball at Newport High School then Morehead State. Although I don’t recall, I began attending her games shortly after entering the world. In addition, my mom worked at Newport High School which is where I was dropped off after school each day. I would rush to knock out my homework so I could go to the gym to get some shots up. Thankfully, during the season, both the girls and boys coaches all allowed me in the gym while their teams practiced. The only rule was to hold the ball when they were talking. Because my mom was the cheerleading coach and also volunteered to help with events, I attended the majority of Newport home basketball games both boys and girls.
Q: Do you have a cute Donna Murphy/Kes Murphy story for me to wrap it up?
A: During the summer, I would spend time with my sister who was a college basketball coach, so my summer vacation destination was based on where she was coaching: Memphis State which is now the University of Memphis, the University of Florda in Gainesville and University of Kentucky. I attended and worked camps, joined her on the recruiting trail which included the old B/C All-star camps, and was a “part-time” manager for Memphis any time they were in town to play Cincinnati and during the Metro Conference Tournaments. I even joined my sister during an in-home recruiting visit. The recruit signed so I like to think I closed the deal despite the fact that I ate all their Jello pudding pops.