As Head Coach Tanner Earley enters his second season with Chuckey-Doak, the Lady Black Knights look to build off a strong finish from last season entering the 2026-27 season.
Last year was a process for Chuckey-Doak’s girls basketball program. On May 23rd, 2025, previous Head Coach Kyle Donahue stepped down and left the position open. Earley stepped in as the ninth coach in program history on late notice, and did not get a full offseason with the team and had to implement a new culture and new system while preparing for the season.
After a full offseason with a majority of the team returning, Coach Earley and the Lady Knights are looking to make huge leaps in the season ahead.
“We’re very excited to get started,” Coach Earley stated.
Earley described just how much a full offseason with a team makes a difference compared to last season when he first took over.
“I think it’s been a game changer for all of us involved. The chemistry we’ve built this year compared to last when I walked in brand new and they walked in brand new with no varsity experience with it being my first year coaching. It was rough for all of us near the start and in the middle of the year. This year with me not being new, they’re not new to me, and I’m not new to them, the chemistry and relationships we’ve built has just been incredible,” he mentioned.
Chuckey-Doak finished last season 8-22 (2-8) in Coach Earley’s first season with a 5th place finish in the regular season standings and a 4th place finish in the District 1-2A Tournament. The Lady Knights’ season ended at No. 1 Gatlinburg-Pittman in the Region 1-2A Tournament.
Most of the roster are returners from last season. The Lady Knights only lost two seniors and bring mostly everybody back.
The lone senior on this year’s squad is Chloe Kirkpatrick. “She’s my leader on the court. She’s my leader off the court. She’s the leader of the team, Coach Earley stated.
Chuckey-Doak brings back a large class of juniors with five listed on the roster. Jayden Myers, Jessie Dayton, Kimberly Puente, Hayleigh Seidl, and Khloe Henderson round out the list of upperclassmen.
A group of three sophomores will wear the black and gold this season. Khloe Knight, Kori Hollifield, and Paylin Shelton will lead the sophomore group. Only two freshmen will dress out on varsity this season and both athletes are Dani Shelton and Raylea Myers.
Coach Earley spoke about the potential depth this year’s team could have. “The difference between this year and last year is I think I have some depth this year at the varsity level. Last year I maybe counted on 6 or 7 on a good night. This year I think I could go 8 or 9 if I need to. That’s promising.”
The Lady Knights will share the District 1-2A conference with West Greene, South Greene, Happy Valley, Unicoi County, and Johnson County. Chuckey-Doak finished 5th in the regular season last year and look to improve upon last year’s finish.
“I think the outlook is very high for us. Bringing everybody back is a really good thing for us,” Coach Earley explained. “I think we’re right there in the thick of things really anywhere from first to fourth if I had to guess. I think our conference is pretty deep this year.”
The goal for the Lady Knights is to win the District Tournament and also host a Region Tournament game.
Chuckey-Doak’s schedule features North Greene, Providence, University High, Cloudland, Claiborne, and Lakeway Christian as non-district opponents.
Chuckey-Doak is hosting a Thanksgiving Tournament this season. The Black Knights will host the inaugural Captain D’s Thanksgiving Tournament held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of Thanksgiving week. The tournament will feature South Greene, Hancock County, Johnson County, KACHEA, and University High.
The Lady Knights will return to the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies’ Classic and visit Cherokee High School for the Big H BBQ Christmas Bash during the holiday break.
The season begins Thursday, November 19th, at Providence Academy.
Chuckey-Doak is coached by Tanner Earley with assistants Baylee Landers and Nicole Riddle.
