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Insell reloading on recruiting trail
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Middle Tennessee women’s basketball coach Rick Insell is proving that he does not rebuild.
Instead, he reloads and continues to win championships. He’s won three Sun Belt titles in four seasons in Murfreesboro and doesn’t plan to relinquish his stranglehold on the conference.
It’s a good thing for Lady Raider fans that he can recruit because Middle Tennessee loses six players following the 2009-10 campaign.
With this in mind, Insell already has two commitments from players who can pay dividends, especially on the glass.
MTSU’s first commitment, Lawrence County’s Jordyn Luffman, averaged around 10 rebounds per game to go with 17 points a contest. The 6-foot-1 rising senior is a versatile player who can play multiple positions.
The Lady Raiders’ second commitment, La Vergne’s Stephanie Myers, is a 6-foot-5 center who averaged around 10 rebounds a game last season and is the No. 39 post player in America, according to ESPN. With her size, she can also block shots, which is something Middle Tennessee needs. Last season Middle Tennessee was sixth in the Sun Belt in block shots with 2.65 per game and didn’t have a player in the SBC top five for rejections. Brandi Brown led the squad with 1.03 per game but is more of a perimeter player.
No one knows if these players will emerge as premier players, but Insell has an excellent track record of evaluating talent. Want proof?
How about Amber Holt and Alysha Clark?
Holt, who signed with Middle Tennessee after a two-year stint in community college, led the nation in scoring as a senior with 27.4 points per game and was named a first-team All-American by CBSSports.com. The Connecticut Sun took her ninth overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft.
Clark, a Mt. Juliet native who starred at Belmont before transferring to Middle Tennessee, was the nation’s leading scorer for 2008-09 with 27.5 points per game. She was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and led Middle Tennessee to the NCAA tournament.
Last season a Middle Tennessee player led the conference in four categories: scoring (Clark); field-goal percentage (Clark, .607); steals (Chelsia Lymon, 2.79 per game); and offensive rebounds (Clark, 4.91 per game).
Clark was second in rebounding (9.8 per game), while Brandi Brown was second in 3-point percentage (.409) and 3-pointers made (2.32 per game).
The Lady Raiders have a talented squad returning in 2009, and, if history is any indication, the future will be bright for Middle Tennessee. Insell has proven he can get players who can produce.
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