Grove-Side Q&A: Missy Dickerson

This installment of Grove-Side Q&As features Ole Miss head softball coach Missy Dickerson Questions were sent in by fans through OleMissSports.com in recent weeks and touch on a variety of topics. Grove-Side Q&As are a regular feature on OleMissSports.com and provide Rebel fans interactive opportunites with some of the key figures in Ole Miss athletics.

Q: What is the secret to your success in continuing to recruit quality athletes to come play at Ole Miss?
We have tried to make a dramatic turnaround with this program as quickly as possible. In doing that, we went out and tried to get quality athletes and had a huge recruiting year in 2007. Our honesty with recruits and our willingness to play freshman if they can earn their position, shows these kids that they have all the possibilities in the world to help them get to the next level. Those are the kinds of kids we want here.

Q: What attributes or skill set do you feel the team needs to improve on the good mix you have already assembled?
I think the biggest word there is not skill set, but attribute, and that attribute we are looking for is consistency. We did a fairly good job at the beginning of the season. We are struggling a little bit now, but earlier in the year we did a good job with consistency. We need to do a better job at this point in the season to get that consistency back. That will improve the mix we have.

Q: How can the Rebels get their offense going against SEC teams?
We don't necessarily think we have a lack of offense, but a lack of execution. By that I mean the key bunt, the key slap or the ability to advance runners. Once we get into those situations, we need the situational hitting or key hit. I don't think anyone has really held us down in hits in any of the six games we've played within the conference this year. It's a matter of finding a way to get that key hit. It's a matter of finding a way to win.

Q: What are the most common problems you work on with incoming recruits, and what do you do to correct them?
You try to recruit players that are fundamentally sound, but one of my biggest areas of focus is fundamentals. That's our primary area of concentration in the fall for both the new players and the veterans.

Q: How do we best communicate the excitement of fastpitch softball to a community that is more accustom to watching baseball?
I think the best way to communicate fastpitch softball is by focusing on how lively and exciting the sport actually is. The game is faster and quicker than baseball. However, the best way to get butts in the seats is to win. That's what we are trying to do here. We have had a lot of exciting games this year and once the fans come out, they will see how exciting the sport is, how hard the girls work and how talented the team is. It will spark people's interest.

Q: What are the greatest changes you have seen in the program since you first arrived three years ago?
The greatest changes that we have seen are the athleticism and competitiveness of the program. There have been tremendous facility changes, as well as numerous records broken over the last three years. Going to the SEC tournament the last two years also proved how far this program has come. Hopefully the positive successes we have had display our dedication to try and turn this program around.

Q: What are the biggest attributes that you look for in a prospective recruit and how do you go about finding and recruiting your players?
When recruiting a student-athlete, the biggest attributes we look for are attitude, personality, academics and ability. The recruiting landscape has changed so dramatically, that we have now started to look at freshmen and sophomores in high school. The verbal commitments are getting as bad as football, where as we are getting commitments that are juniors and sophomores in high school. We go to an amazing amount of club tournaments in the summer. We look anywhere from 16 and under teams, to even 14 and under teams. We are limited to 50 recruiting days, so we need to see as many games and as many teams as we can. Our entire summer is taken up by recruiting these tournaments. What we try and do is establish relationships with the coaches of kids we have recruited in the past. We track those teams and the players we know are talented.

Q: How are your recruiting pipelines shaping up for 2009 and 2010?
We are almost done with 2009. We are now concentrating on 2010 and 2011 prospects.

Q: Is Ole Miss capable of being a national championship program, and what are the greatest obstacles in doing so?
Absolutely. Ole Miss is capable of being a national championship program. Some of the greatest obstacles in achieving that are being able to continue to attract quality athletes into this program and to make others stand-up and take notice of the changes we have made. The advancements we have made and the success that we've had have really contributed to the turnaround we have made over the last three years. It is somewhat of a patience game, but people have started to take notice and not take us for granted. One of the things we are lacking is speed and in the next year we hope to fix that.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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