Ashton Feldhaus respects UK coach Kenny Brooks for all he's done. (Morehead State Photo)
Morehead State coach Ashton Feldhaus makes her Division I head coaching debut tonight against the team she’s always rooted for.
“I root for the Cats, too, just not when I am playing them,” Feldhaus said on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk.
Tonight in Memorial Coliseum might be the first time the Feldhaus clan has ever rooted against UK. Allen Feldhaus Sr., the Morehead coach’s grandfather, played at UK for Adolph Rupp. Deron Feldhaus, her uncle, played at UK for coach Rick Pitino. Her sister, Addie, works at UK as a content director for men’s basketball coach Mark Pope.
“It’s funny. I just got off the phone with Addie and I asked her what she was wearing (to the game). She said, ‘I’m just going to go neutral and wear all black,’ and it kind of pissed me off. I was like, ‘You’re kidding me,’” the Morehead coach said.
“So even though it’s me on the other side, I still don’t know. I think they (family members) are a 50/50 fifty split (about who to support).”
Ashton Feldhaus does understand her younger sister has professional reasons for needing to dress in neutral colors.
“That’s fair. I understood that. She was like, ‘I just don’t think I can.’ She did get a Morehead State pin made she’s gonna wear,” Ashton Feldhaus said.
Her father, Allen Jr., is a successful coach at Madison Central High School who won a state title with future UK guard Dominique Hawkins on his team. Ashton Feldhaus won a regional title at Madison Central and played in the state tournament at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.
The Morehead coach admits she’ll be a bit nervous tonight.
“Obviously, it’s my first year being a Division I head coach, and last year was my only year as head coach (at Division II Missouri Western), so I think playing at Kentucky makes it even a little bit more nerve racking,” she said. “I’m so excited for our kids. It’ll be packed in there and obviously a fun day from my family.
“Definitely nervous, But just like anything else, I think once the balls tip, you kind of just get in game mode and you go from there. So until then, I’ll probably be pacing back and forth in whatever locker room they have us in, But as soon as the ball tips, I’ll be alright.”
She does want to “soak” up the atmosphere tonight as well as she can and wants it to be a “cool experience” for her players.
“Watching them kind of run out there in front of all those people and how loud it’s going to be and there’s a lot of buzz around Kentucky women’s basketball,” Feldhaus said. “Coach (Kenny) Brooks obviously is fantastic. It’s just a cool experience, and we’re going to play hard and compete as best we can.
“We are as munchkins compared to them. We’re little, I will say that. We’re gonna try to kind of attack their feet, move them laterally a little bit. I will say that our team is fun to watch. We shoot a ton of 3’s.”
Tonight will be a bit surreal because she dreamed when she was a kid about an opportunity like this.
“I’m used to being in the stands watching all these soon to be Hall of Fame coaches. Coach Brooks is just that. He’s just awesome,” Feldhaus said. “To be standing across from him on the sideline, that’s like a pinch me moment for me in my career. ‘m super excited. I have so much respect for him and his program and the kids that they have.”
No matter what happens tonight, Feldhaus and Morehead State will open the 2026-27 season against Kentucky.
