‘An inspiration.’ Kenny Brooks and Vic Schaefer stronger with daughters on staff
In 2017, Kenny Brooks took his middle daughter, Chloe, to watch head coach Vic Schaefer and No. 2 seed Mississippi State defeat top-seeded Connecticut by a single possession in overtime to reach the Final Four.
The Bulldogs’ victory — achieved via a Morgan William buzzer beater — ended UConn’s 111-game win streak, and served as redemption for Mississippi State’s 60-point tournament loss to the Huskies the year before. It also featured junior guard Blair Schaefer, the coach’s daughter.
“It was just she and I,” Brooks said. “We were there. I watched Vic coach his daughter, and to success.”
Schaefer coached his daughter for four seasons at Mississippi State. During that time, Blair was a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, the 2017-18 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and developed into an SEC All-Defensive Team honoree by the end of her college career.
Brooks himself has coached each of his three daughters — Kendyl, Chloe and Gabby — the latter of whom is currently a junior guard at Kentucky.
While “family” is a word thrown around by most renowned college basketball coaches, not many coach their own children. Few go even further and put their children on staff. Yet it’s a point of pride for both Schaefer and Brooks, who will face off in Saturday’s Sweet 16 matchup in Fort Worth, Texas, with their daughters, Blair and Kendyl, joining them on the bench.
“I watched Vic put his daughter on staff, and he and I have shared many, many stories,” Brooks said. “We’ve talked about it. He’s inspired me a lot, and having family around my program has been the best thing that I’ve ever, ever done professionally, because it not only gives your culture a family-style culture. … I call it bonus time. I have bonus time with my family.”
Schaefer’s perspective on keeping his family close shifted after his son — and Blair’s twin brother — Logan suffered a traumatic brain injury at age 14. When asked about the conversations he’s had with Brooks on the connection between family and coaching, he referenced Logan’s injury and recovery, as well as Brooks’ wife, Chrissy’s, battle with and recovery from breast cancer.
“I think when you go through those kinds of things, it changes you,” Schaefer said. “And it changes perspective sometimes. It doesn’t mean that he and I aren’t any more passionate and intense with trying to do the job we have.”
Blair’s class at Mississippi State (2014-18) graduated with an overall record of 126-22; the team never missed an NCAA Tournament appearance, and finished as the national-runner up in both 2017 and 2018. She joined her father’s staff at Mississippi State in 2019, serving as the program’s coordinator of player development, and followed him to Texas in 2020 as his director of basketball operations. She’s now in her fourth season as an assistant coach for the Longhorns.
“I count it as a blessing,” Schaefer said. “The good Lord, he has blessed me in so many different ways, and to be able to coach with Blair, first coach her and now coach with her, what a blessing the good Lord has given me and our team, because she’s really good at what she does.”
Kendyl, on Brooks’ roster for four seasons at Virginia Tech, was an active player for three seasons for the Hokies (2016-19). She averaged 5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 23 minutes per game over the course of her career. After college, Kendyl served as coordinator of basketball operations for the Charlotte Hornets before joining her father’s Kentucky staff as operations coordinator in 2024.
“When I missed so much (of their) growing up, I was so busy trying to make a life I wasn’t living a life,” Brooks said. “I remember during COVID, we were all around the table with three of my daughters, and they would talk about all these stories growing up, and I’m like, ‘Where was I?’ They were, like, ‘Well, you were probably recruiting.’
“For me to be able to enjoy these moments of having them on the sidelines with me and around, you know, it’s the best thing that’s happened to me. That’s been an inspiration because of what Vic has taught me and told me about everything.”
Brooks, who told UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart that having his daughters as part of the program was a non-negotiable when he took the job, said he’d been told “so many times” that having his family around his teams “can’t be good for your program,” and that it can be a distraction.
And while that could be true for some, it’s also true that both Brooks and Schaefer have experienced some of the most successful seasons of their careers with their daughters in the same team-issued gear.
Kendyl and Blair, by their fathers’ estimations, have more than earned their spots on staff.
“(Blair’s) thorough,” Schaefer said. “And sometimes I look at her, and I have to ask, ‘Man, she’s with me until 2 o’clock in the morning at the SEC Tournament,’ when we’re fixing to play, I think Ole Miss, because that was her scout. I’m thinking, ‘Man, where does this kid get it?’ Then I realize who she gets it from.”
No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Kentucky will vie for a spot in the Elite Eight on Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, at 3 p.m. ET. The Longhorns defeated UK 64-53 on Feb. 9 in Austin during regular-season play.
