He’s the only Kentucky coach to win girls’ titles at two schools. Here’s what’s next.
Remembered as the best coach she ever had from grade school through her college career, it was no surprise to Kelli Stamper Reynolds that Bob Tripure, the only coach in state history to lead two different girls’ programs to a state championship, would be inducted this year into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I think it’s amazing, and I think he is one of those that totally deserves it,” said Reynolds who as Kelli Stamper was named the most valuable player of the 1999 KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 for Lexington Catholic and went on to play at Miami (Ohio) and Campbellsville. “His philosophy and his fundamental work is what made that team. Our plays were fairly simple. It was about us, not about them (the opponents) is what he always would say.”
With a switching man-to-man defense and a flex offense that emphasized motion, picks and getting baskets directly off a pass, Tripure’s Lady Knights went 34-3 in his final season, capped by a victory over Assumption in the Sweet 16 title game.
All told, Tripure’s teams went 384-72 over his 14-year girls’ basketball coaching career, never with a losing season.
It included seven straight region titles and the 1990 state championship at Henry Clay, where he also had a hall of fame coaching career in baseball.
He was one of 13 inductees recently named to this year’s class for the basketball hall in Elizabethtown. The ceremony is currently scheduled for July 11.
Tripure, now 81, said he appreciated the honor and credited his players, principals and administrators for his success in addition to the late Henry Clay boys’ coach Al Prewitt, whom he served as an assistant for 20 years, including their 1983 Sweet 16 title run.
“Everything I know about basketball, I learned from Al,” Tripure said. “I learned to coach. Any success I had I owe to Al.”
Lexington Catholic went on to win seven more regionals and three more state titles after Tripure left, but no 11th Region team has matched Henry Clay’s string of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
To Reynolds, Tripure’s knowledge of the game stood out as did the system they ran since she was in middle school. Tripure came to Lexington Catholic in 1994, a year after his retirement from Henry Clay, finding he still had the itch to coach.
Henry Clay had some success and a couple of region titles before Tripure took over the Blue Devils. But at LexCath, the Lady Knights had never won the region. In his first parent meeting, he promised LexCath would win the 11th before he left. The 1999 Lady Knights just happened to throw the state title in too.
His teams were so adept and so fluid at his switching man-to-man defense that after one out-of-state tournament, he had coaches calling and asking him how he taught his “matchup zone.”
“I didn’t know anything about a matchup zone,” he laughed.
And Tripure’s offense focused more on getting open shots off a pass rather than off the dribble. He drilled the style into his teams.
“The plays that we ran — I ran it for the five years I was there — and, so, they were ingrained in us,” Reynolds said.
Tripure remembered it that way, as well, teaching his system to the seventh- and eighth-graders as soon as he arrived.
“By the time they were 12th-graders, I could just sit and watch,” Tripure said.
Back when Tripure was offered the girls’ coaching position at Henry Clay, he didn’t think he wanted it. He didn’t know anything about coaching girls, but he resolved to give it a shot. He’s stated many times since that it was the best career move he ever made.
“I think coaching the boys helped me,” Tripure said. “I coached (the girls) just like I did the boys. I talked to other girls’ coaches and they would tell me all the pitfalls — girls cry (etc.). Well, I’ve seen boys cry and various things.”
He learned that girls could be overcoached and try too hard to do exactly what they’re asked, sometimes. And girls tended to hold onto grudges a little longer than boys, “but (girls) want to win,” he said. “They play hard and they compete.”
Reynolds remembered “you knew he meant business,” when players did something wrong, but Tripure had a way about himself that earned his players’ trust.
“He was hard on us, but it was motivational,” she said. “He wasn’t just trying to get us down. He motivated us in a way with tough love, I guess. Everybody responded to that. And he knew how to treat the player based on their personality. Not a lot of coaches have that.”
Reynolds finished her career as Lexington girls’ basketball’s all-time leading scorer with 2,539 points, a mark she still holds.
Tripure has previously been inducted into the Georgetown College, Henry Clay, Dawahares/KHSAA and Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches halls of fame.
Bob Tripure’s girls’ coaching record
Henry Clay
1985: 22-5
1986: 27-3-x
1987: 30-5-x
1988: 30-5-x
1989: 29-6-x
1990: 32-4-y
1991: 35-3-x
1992: 32-2-x
1993: 14-11
Total: 251-44
Lexington Catholic
1995: 25-6
1996: 18-10
1997: 28-5
1998: 28-4
1999: 34-3-y
Total: 133-28
Overall: 384-72
x-11th Region champs
y-State champs
