A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Kes Murphy leaving Holy Cross girls basketball program to become Notre Dame’s head coach


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Kes Murphy, coach of the Holy Cross team that won the 9th Region’s first Sweet 16 state championship in girls basketball, is leaving that program to become head coach at Notre Dame Academy.

Murphy said he’s making the career move because he “just wasn’t happy” and needed a new challenge. He’ll be taking charge of a Notre Dame varsity team that finished 7-22 and 8-18 the last two seasons.

Kes Murphy carries off the championship trophy after the 2015 9th Region tournament.

“Probably one of the most difficult decisions I ever made in my life because I realize all the success we experienced (at Holy Cross) and everything we were able to build,” Murphy said. “Even looking at the potential for next year and the next several years, everything was in place to be successful. But at the end of the day I wasn’t having fun. I just wasn’t happy.”

Holy Cross teams compiled a 151-81 record in Murphy’s eight seasons as head coach. The 2014-15 team won regional and state championships in the All “A” Classic small-school playoffs and then became the first girls to claim 9th Region and state championships in the post-season playoffs.

Murphy was named Coach of the Year in Kentucky after leading his small-school team to the 2015 Sweet 16 state championship and finishing with a 33-3 record.  Over the last three seasons, the Indians won two more All “A” Classic regional titles, but they had a 1-3 record in post-season regional tournament games.

Last season, Holy Cross posted an 18-13 record with only one senior on the roster. In the first round of the district playoffs, the Indians knocked off Notre Dame, 45-30.

When Notre Dame school officials decided not to re-hire Mia Cooper, the team’s head coach the last two seasons, someone asked Murphy if he would be interested in returning to the program. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Notre Dame in 1998.

Despite the varsity team’s losing records over the last two years, Murphy applied for the Notre Dame head coaching job and got it.

“I think they’ve got talent coming up,” he said of the Pandas program. “I know from their feeder (elementary) schools they’re always going to have kids who can play and can help that program be a power. If the right person gets involved from the ground level working up, I think the school can dominate like they do in other sports, and like the school across the street.”

The school across the street that he referred to is Covington Catholic, a two-time state champion in boys basketball that has the same feeder elementary schools as Notre Dame.

Since the number of students enrolling at Notre Dame is much higher than Holy Cross, there’s a greater potential to do well in an unclassified sport like basketball year after year.

“I think we can be solid this coming season and I expect to be competing for regional titles in the next three or four years,” Murphy said. “When you compare the Notre Dame feeder numbers with the Holy Cross feeder numbers, if we can be successful as we were at Holy Cross there’s no doubt in my mind Notre Dame can be just as successful.”

Murphy said several members of his coaching staff at Holy Cross will come with him to Notre Dame, including his son, Cameron Murphy, Jim Edmonds, Dan Flaig and Casse Mogan.

“That’s a tight-knit group of people that I trust and are willing to follow me on what ‘s going to be a fun journey but what’s going to be a major challenge,” he said.

Holy Cross now has two head basketball coaching vacancies to fill. Last month, Ryan Schrand announced that he is stepping down as boys head coach after five seasons.


Recent Posts

One Comment

  1. Dave Mersch says:

    The article on Kes Murphy leaving Holy Cross has a very positive spin on his taking the Notre Dame coaching position. I have watched the girls program at Holy Cross very closely the last two years . I am glad he realized it was time for a change. Addition by subtraction in this case will benefit Holy Cross. The atmosphere he created around the team was not conducive to a positive team building and life enhancing experience for the athletes. I hope for the NDA girls that he learns some humility and lessons in diversity and equity in the treatment of all . I understand that news on topics like this are supposed to be positive. Too bad that along with the praise the article dished that some of the issues he created could not be addressed . Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

Leave a Comment