The University of Mississippi Athletics
COACH BLOG: Ladner On An Eventful Summer
7/6/2009 | Women's Basketball
Hello Rebel Fans,
I hope everyone is having a great summer! There has been a lot going on lately in the world of women’s basketball and I wanted to take some time to try and catch everyone up. We’re only halfway through the summer months and there are so many things to be excited about if you are an Ole Miss women’s basketball fan. We just finished our camps and they were without a doubt a tremendous success. I know the coaches and players had so much fun teaching the great game of basketball to aspiring young players. There was an outstanding crop of talent this year and hopefully we will see some of them in an Ole Miss uniform in the coming years.
It has also been a great summer for me personally as I was given a contract extension for an additional year. I can’t say enough about how excited I am to have the opportunity to continue coaching at Ole Miss. I am a Rebel through and through and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I gave everything I had when I played here many moons ago, and I will continue to give everything I have on the sidelines. I love our team and there isn’t a bunch of girls I would rather be coaching. Last year was one of my most enjoyable seasons for me from a coaching standpoint, and I can’t wait to see what next season holds. I have such passion for Ole Miss and I truly believe our program is heading in the right direction.
Another exciting addition to our program is the return of Armintie Price. As most of you know by now, I have hired Armintie to join my staff as an assistant coach next season. I couldn’t be more excited about the positive things she will bring to the sidelines. She is obviously very familiar with Ole Miss and the types of lofty expectations and goals we have within our program. She is a winner and I believe she will help instill that type of attitude into our players. Armintie was always coaching on the floor when she played here, and I know she is going to do a great job for us in the future.
Although I am so excited to have Armintie back in
I am currently on the road recruiting, which is what I will be doing for the majority of July. I plan on being all over the country looking at some of the top players in the nation. Recruiting never has an offseason and you can’t ever take your foot off the gas if you want to be successful. I believe my coaching staff has some of the best talent evaluators in the nation and we are extremely anxious to get started.
Believe it or not, the season is just around the corner and will be here before you know it. I am anxious to get back on the court and get to work. We have a lot of unfinished business left from last year. I think last year was a good season, but we let a lot of games slip away from us at the end. I think we learned a lot of lessons from last year and I know everyone is very hungry. I’m excited about what we have returning and think we can have another successful year. We lost a big part of our team in Shawn Goff, but I think our returning post players will step up the challenge and fill the void she left.
I look forward to seeing the progress Bianca Thomas makes from last year to this year. She really blossomed last year and emerged into one of the top players in the conference. She is a true competitor and I can’t wait to see her take her game to the next level. Bianca was huge for us last year and I think she is determined to have another banner season for us. We also return Shantell Black, Kayla Melson, Alliesha Easley and Elizabeth Robertson, who were all starters for us a year ago. I think last year’s experiences will prove large for us in our quest to get back to the NCAA Tournament. I hope everyone will come out and support us this year because we can’t do it without our sixth man.
If you guys want more information about what’s going on with me this summer, you can follow me on twitter.com/renee_ladner.
Hotty Toddy,
Renee Ladner
