New Henry Clay girls basketball coach says Blue Devils job is ‘not a rebuild.’
Henry Clay High School introduced former Campbellsville University-Harrodsburg women’s basketball coach Brian Tribble as the new head coach of its girls program on Monday.
“We have bled Blue Devil blue for a long time,” said Tribble, whose wife, Monica, and son, Brian Tribble Jr., both graduated from Henry Clay. “So this school means a lot to us.”
Tribble, a girls AAU, college and high school coach in Central Kentucky for more than two decades, spent last season as a girls assistant coach at Madison Central, which got off to a 21-0 start on its way to a 44th District title and 11th Region finals appearance under region coach of the year Scott True.
Tribble takes over Henry Clay after the Blue Devils went 11-19 last season overall and 3-3 in 42nd District play, but still managed to reach the district finals and 11th Region Tournament for the third time in former coach Ashley Garrard’s four seasons. Henry Clay lost in this past season’s district finals by a score of 78-44 to eventual region champion and state tournament semifinalist Frederick Douglass.
Garrard went 68-54 during her tenure, highlighted by Henry Clay winning the 42nd District championship as the tournament’s third seed in her first year. Henry Clay reached the 11th Region semifinals under Garrard in 2022 and 2024.
Tribble said he took the Henry Clay job “because of the potential. You have a group of young ladies that are hungry. … I’m very clear that this is not a rebuild — you have young women who know the tradition of this program, but at the same time have not experienced what it’s like to truly win and compete for the Henry Clay Lady Blue Devils.”
Tribble’s new team will lose last season’s top two scorers, Ariyana Sutton and Charlianne Robinson, to graduation, but should return junior forward Jayden Jeffers, who led the team in rebounding and averaged 8.6 points per game, and sophomore guard Brinley Dumphord, who averaged 8.4 points per game.
“I want these young women to understand that the pressure is on me. It’s not on them. I will do the heavy lifting,” Tribble said. “Now, you have to do more than show up. My job is to get the best out of the less skilled player and the most out of the most skilled player.”
Tribble spent six seasons as the head coach of Campbellsville University-Harrodsburg’s fledgling women’s program, helping found it in 2018 and leading it to a conference title in 2022 in Division II of the National Christian College Athletic Association. Tribble left the program two seasons before Campbellsville University’s recent decision to shutter its Harrodsburg campus.
Under Tribble, the Pioneers reached four conference finals and made three national tournament appearances. He was named a conference coach of the year in 2023 for a team led by NCCAA Division II player of the year Oriona Woods, a Henry Clay graduate.
This will be Tribble’s first girls high school head coaching job. In addition to Madison Central, he was previously a high school assistant at Lexington Catholic and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
“When it comes to my style, (players) need to be allowed to just play and make mistakes,” he said. “We’re gonna play an aggressive defense, which will allow for players to get a lot of shots. I want players shooting the ball early and often.”
Henry Clay’s winning tradition dates to 1982 when the Blue Devils began a run of nine 11th Region titles in 11 years, including seven straight and the 1990 Girls’ Sweet 16 state championship under legendary coach Bob Tripure. Henry Clay last won a region title in 2008 under Scott Cromwell. Henry Clay last made the region finals in 2015.
