June 12, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County High School has a new girls basketball coach.
Meet Brandy Alley
The announcement was made Friday by DCHS Principal Bruce Curtis.
The 25-year-old Alley, a native and resident of Crossville, will succeed Coach Danny Fish who announced his resignation last month to take the boys basketball head coaching job at Warren County High School.
Although she has served as a travel ball coach and an assistant to head basketball coaches at White County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial spanning the last five years, this is her first head varsity basketball coaching job. In addition to her role as assistant, Alley also headed up or was involved in the freshman and junior varsity girls basketball programs during her time at those schools and was head girls volleyball coach for one year at Cumberland County High School.
While originally from Cumberland County, Alley’s family later moved to Murfreesboro. She played basketball and graduated from Riverdale High School in 2014. Alley furthered her education and basketball career at Faulkner University at Montgomery Alabama where she earned a Masters Degree in Biology. From there she attended Tennessee Tech University and earned a Masters Degree in Education Curriculum Instruction. Alley moved back to Crossville four years ago. Her parents now reside in White County. Coach Alley said her plans are to eventually move here.
Principal Curtis said he became acquainted with Alley when she was an assistant coach at White County High School.
“I’ve known Coach Brandy probably for four or five years. She came to White County when my daughter was there (student and basketball player) and worked with her quite a bit. Then she (Alley) moved onto Cumberland County and later to Stone Memorial working with Coaches Mike Buck and Radhika Miller, who are in my opinion two of the better coaches in the area. I felt like she (Alley) gained a lot of knowledge from them,” said Curtis.
Alley said she was excited to get the call from Principal Curtis and she is ready for the challenge.
“I was looking to further my career. I am very excited about being a head coach. DeKalb County is where my great uncle Bobby Hale started his head (football) coaching career decades ago and I have always kept up with the girls here especially with them having been in our district last year. I watched them play and loved them so as soon as he (Principal Curtis) presented me with this opportunity (to be head coach) I jumped on it and couldn’t be more excited,” said Coach Alley.
“The biggest thing I want to focus on with this program is taking the great foundation they have and keep pushing it further. One thing that always stood out to me was how much potential this group of girls has and how good of a foundation they have and how good they can be so we will take each day as a new opportunity for them to grow and develop and keep telling the girls that there is a lot more than just this game but that we can use this game as a tool to teach them how to be better people,” she continued.
“I know its going to take a lot of work but from what I know about these girls already is they will be willing to do it. They are very competitive and have potential to do some great things in this district and cause a stir. I really want to turn the work potential into action,” she concluded.
Coach Alley becomes the fourth female head basketball coach all time in the history of DeKalb County High School behind Helen Lee, Holly White, and Amy Tobitt.
Principal Curtis said bringing on a female coach to lead this program was important to him. “I was seriously wanting to try to find a female coach if we could for our girls. I just think that is something that in today’s society has become very important,” he said.
Coach Alley will meet her team for the first time Monday for a play day.
In the classroom, Coach Alley will be an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and when there is an opening, Principal Curtis said she will be moved into a biology and physical science teaching position.