Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: “I've got an administration that believes in women's sports”
1/21/2024 6:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
On a weekend filled with new milestones, Rick Insell and his players reflected on the support around them
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Savannah Wheeler caught her voice just before the tear fell at the press conference table on Thursday night. Just after becoming the 10th player ever to score 2,000 career points in Conference USA history, the fifth-year guard felt the emotions of a career well played ending soon come up earlier than expected.
"It definitely means a lot to me," Wheeler said of the milestone. "Basketball has been a big part of who I am starting at a young age. I'm just very fortunate to be around great people and great coaches."
Perhaps that made the moment on Saturday at bit easier, when she became Conference USA's all-time leader in made free throws with her 13th make of the game at the charity stripe, the 579th make of her career and her head coach, Rick Insell, called timeout to give Wheeler a well-earned ovation from the Murphy Center crowd and love from her teammates on the bench.
"I've always had a knack for going to the free throw line," Wheeler said with a smile after the dominant win over New Mexico State. "Ever since I was in high school. When you're small, all you've got to do is just drive, drive, drive."
It's been that kind of start to conference play for the Lady Raiders, who are 4-0 in the new year and have had two more players hit career marks beyond Wheeler's accolades in the past week, including Courtney Whitson claiming the program record for made three-pointers and Jalynn Gregory passing 1,000 career points, the 34th Lady Raider to hit that mark in her career. The players' success and the team's success had Insell in a reflective mood after an 85-48 thrashing of the Aggies.
"We knew from the very beginning, when we saw her play her first game at Marshall, she was a player," Insell said of Wheeler. "She wasn't a freshman, you might as well of been guarding a junior or senior because she didn't back off."
With Gregory, Insell went into the story of how many people scolded him for recruiting the sharpshooter guard out of Macon County, saying she played for too small a school, that Gregory was too small, not fast enough, not skilled enough to play at the level Insell needed her too. And like he'd done many times before, after the many big games Gregory has played for the Lady Raiders, the head coach took the well-earned victory lap.
"That effort you saw there today you'll see every single day in practice," Insell said of Gregory. "You don't get many of them, I'm telling you. She's one that we got that every day that comes in and works her back end off on defense. I think sometimes, she gives us so much defensively that it takes a little bit away from her offense. Because she's a great, great offensive player, as everybody knows."
These milestone games can come and go for the Lady Raiders at times. There's usually a player nearing 1,000 points almost every year (as Anastasiia Boldyreva will likely do next season, though perhaps near the end of this one!), while another is skyrocketing up the program leaderboard (with Gregory on pace to pass Whitson in career three-pointers made in her senior year).
Just how often those milestones are passed, plus the grind of the season, can make it hard for Rick Insell to stop and take stock of the greatness of what he and the rest of us witness on the court night in and night out from the Middle Tennessee women's basketball program.
"I didn't think a whole lot about it when I was coaching Alysha Clark and Ebony Rowe, I was just thankful I had them," Insell acknowledged. "Then when they got gone, I got to thinking I was very fortunate to be able to watch them play every night.
"Same thing with Savannah Wheeler, same thing with Courtney Whitson, same thing with Jalynn, Ta'Mia (Scott), you just come right down the line. Nastia now and Iullia (Grabovskaia) is getting better every time out."
Insell credits the players, their families and their high school programs for that continued success, often calling the group "winners" from the start as a catch all for the practice habits and mentality that's helped so many Lady Raiders under his coaching get to those lofty numbers and scratch their names into future record books.
But what helps get those winners to Murfreesboro in the first place? Insell credits the Lady Raider fan base, which he said was a big selling point for Wheeler's recruitment from Marshall in particular, and also the support he gets from the MTSU administration.
"I think it goes for granted with our fan base at times and in this community," Insell said. "But I've got an administration that believes in women's sports. Not only us, but softball, volleyball, right on down the line. A lot of schools ain't got that, I've got that.
"When we bring a recruit in, and we've got some here today, and they see our community, they meet our administration, why wouldn't you want to come to Middle Tennessee?"
It was a nice reminder to myself of why I love working for MTSU, because Insell is right. It's an athletic department that gives resources for its women's sports teams to succeed. It's not lip service or just for Title IX compliance like it unfortunately can be at so many institutions. It's a culture here, one that's been sustained by not just the current generation of MTSU coaches and administrators, but the countless ones that came before.
And it's one that continues to grow through the thousands of Lady Raider fans that come to the Glass House or Alumni Memorial Gymnasium or the Blue Raider Softball Field or Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium every year, from the thousands showed up this week, despite the ice that kept so many of us in the mid-state in our homes.
And it's especially a culture that's built on the work of the generations of "winners" that have worn the Lady Raider blue, played on that Murphy Center court, that carry that tradition year in and year out, even when knocking each other out of the record book. Hopefully, we'll have many more milestones to mark off in the weeks, months and years to come.
"It definitely means a lot to me," Wheeler said of the milestone. "Basketball has been a big part of who I am starting at a young age. I'm just very fortunate to be around great people and great coaches."
Perhaps that made the moment on Saturday at bit easier, when she became Conference USA's all-time leader in made free throws with her 13th make of the game at the charity stripe, the 579th make of her career and her head coach, Rick Insell, called timeout to give Wheeler a well-earned ovation from the Murphy Center crowd and love from her teammates on the bench.
"I guess I just have a knack of getting to the free throw line."
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) January 21, 2024
- @savwheeler4 #BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/xfZJWRFjJx
"I've always had a knack for going to the free throw line," Wheeler said with a smile after the dominant win over New Mexico State. "Ever since I was in high school. When you're small, all you've got to do is just drive, drive, drive."
It's been that kind of start to conference play for the Lady Raiders, who are 4-0 in the new year and have had two more players hit career marks beyond Wheeler's accolades in the past week, including Courtney Whitson claiming the program record for made three-pointers and Jalynn Gregory passing 1,000 career points, the 34th Lady Raider to hit that mark in her career. The players' success and the team's success had Insell in a reflective mood after an 85-48 thrashing of the Aggies.
"We knew from the very beginning, when we saw her play her first game at Marshall, she was a player," Insell said of Wheeler. "She wasn't a freshman, you might as well of been guarding a junior or senior because she didn't back off."
With Gregory, Insell went into the story of how many people scolded him for recruiting the sharpshooter guard out of Macon County, saying she played for too small a school, that Gregory was too small, not fast enough, not skilled enough to play at the level Insell needed her too. And like he'd done many times before, after the many big games Gregory has played for the Lady Raiders, the head coach took the well-earned victory lap.
"That effort you saw there today you'll see every single day in practice," Insell said of Gregory. "You don't get many of them, I'm telling you. She's one that we got that every day that comes in and works her back end off on defense. I think sometimes, she gives us so much defensively that it takes a little bit away from her offense. Because she's a great, great offensive player, as everybody knows."
These milestone games can come and go for the Lady Raiders at times. There's usually a player nearing 1,000 points almost every year (as Anastasiia Boldyreva will likely do next season, though perhaps near the end of this one!), while another is skyrocketing up the program leaderboard (with Gregory on pace to pass Whitson in career three-pointers made in her senior year).
Just how often those milestones are passed, plus the grind of the season, can make it hard for Rick Insell to stop and take stock of the greatness of what he and the rest of us witness on the court night in and night out from the Middle Tennessee women's basketball program.
"I didn't think a whole lot about it when I was coaching Alysha Clark and Ebony Rowe, I was just thankful I had them," Insell acknowledged. "Then when they got gone, I got to thinking I was very fortunate to be able to watch them play every night.
"Same thing with Savannah Wheeler, same thing with Courtney Whitson, same thing with Jalynn, Ta'Mia (Scott), you just come right down the line. Nastia now and Iullia (Grabovskaia) is getting better every time out."
Insell credits the players, their families and their high school programs for that continued success, often calling the group "winners" from the start as a catch all for the practice habits and mentality that's helped so many Lady Raiders under his coaching get to those lofty numbers and scratch their names into future record books.
But what helps get those winners to Murfreesboro in the first place? Insell credits the Lady Raider fan base, which he said was a big selling point for Wheeler's recruitment from Marshall in particular, and also the support he gets from the MTSU administration.
"I think it goes for granted with our fan base at times and in this community," Insell said. "But I've got an administration that believes in women's sports. Not only us, but softball, volleyball, right on down the line. A lot of schools ain't got that, I've got that.
"When we bring a recruit in, and we've got some here today, and they see our community, they meet our administration, why wouldn't you want to come to Middle Tennessee?"
It was a nice reminder to myself of why I love working for MTSU, because Insell is right. It's an athletic department that gives resources for its women's sports teams to succeed. It's not lip service or just for Title IX compliance like it unfortunately can be at so many institutions. It's a culture here, one that's been sustained by not just the current generation of MTSU coaches and administrators, but the countless ones that came before.
And it's one that continues to grow through the thousands of Lady Raider fans that come to the Glass House or Alumni Memorial Gymnasium or the Blue Raider Softball Field or Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium every year, from the thousands showed up this week, despite the ice that kept so many of us in the mid-state in our homes.
And it's especially a culture that's built on the work of the generations of "winners" that have worn the Lady Raider blue, played on that Murphy Center court, that carry that tradition year in and year out, even when knocking each other out of the record book. Hopefully, we'll have many more milestones to mark off in the weeks, months and years to come.
Players Mentioned
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