The University of Mississippi Athletics
More Than Family Bragging Rights on the Line Sunday
11/22/2014 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2014
by Austin Miller, OleMissSports.com
OXFORD, Miss. - History will be made Sunday, as Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell takes on Middle Tennessee State head coach Rick Insell in the first father versus son women's basketball game in Division I history.
More than family bragging rights, however, will be on the line, as Matt and the Rebels seek a marquee non-conference win against a Middle Tennessee State program that has won six straight regular season conference titles and has advanced to five straight NCAA Tournaments.
"We play the game Sunday because I'm trying to bring excitement to our program," Matt Insell said. "I thought it would be a game our fan base would get excited, and as I have found this week with newspaper articles from all over, there's excitement and people talking about Ole Miss women's basketball.
"Middle Tennessee is a really good basketball team. Every year, they're ranked in the top 20 of RPI. Every year, they're in the top 25. They have won nine of their last 10 conference championships. They're not a team that goes to the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed or 13 seed. They're anywhere from a 5 seed to a 9 seed, so you're really going to be able to see what your team is about."
Matt began his coaching career as one of the top AAU coaches in the country, coaching the Tennessee Flight, a Nike Elite travel program that Rick helped start.
During that time, Rick accepted the head coaching position at MTSU in May 2005, having built a high school girl's basketball dynasty at nearby Shelbyville Central High School, where he guided the school to 10 Tennessee state championship and two national championships.
After coaching the Tennessee Flight, Matt served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Louisiana Tech and then served the top assistant on Matthew Mitchell's staff at Kentucky, before being named head coach at Ole Miss.
"Matt wouldn't be where he is today if Rick didn't't stay and be a full-time father for him all those years ago," said Deb Insell, Matt's mother and Rick's wife.
"He had an opportunity to be at a Division I when Matt was 4 years old and he chose to not accept a Division I coaching job at Middle Tennessee State University at that time because our boys needed a father in their lives every day. I like to credit that Matt became a 30-year-old head coach in the SEC because he had a father every day in his life."
Matt and Rick have met four times previously, when Matt was an assistant coach at Kentucky, with Rick and Middle Tennessee winning both meetings Murfreesboro, and Matt and Kentucky winning both meetings in Lexington.
This meeting provides not only the toughest test yet for Matt and the Rebels, but also a measuring stick for progress. Meeting with his team, Matt stressed the importance of the game, not for him personally, but for the entire program.
"We have to focus in on how we can get a big win for our program and a big step in where we're going in our program because beating a top-20 RPI team goes a long way late in the season, if you put yourself in position to be in the tournament," Matt said.
"This is a big, big game for us, in terms of seeing where we're going. We'll prepare for this game, like we do for every game, but we'll have a little extra importance on this, more than just playing my dad. This is a big game for our program."
Austin Miller is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports.com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of the Daily Mississippian. Follow him on Twitter @austinkmiller.
OXFORD, Miss. - History will be made Sunday, as Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell takes on Middle Tennessee State head coach Rick Insell in the first father versus son women's basketball game in Division I history.
More than family bragging rights, however, will be on the line, as Matt and the Rebels seek a marquee non-conference win against a Middle Tennessee State program that has won six straight regular season conference titles and has advanced to five straight NCAA Tournaments.
"We play the game Sunday because I'm trying to bring excitement to our program," Matt Insell said. "I thought it would be a game our fan base would get excited, and as I have found this week with newspaper articles from all over, there's excitement and people talking about Ole Miss women's basketball.
"Middle Tennessee is a really good basketball team. Every year, they're ranked in the top 20 of RPI. Every year, they're in the top 25. They have won nine of their last 10 conference championships. They're not a team that goes to the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed or 13 seed. They're anywhere from a 5 seed to a 9 seed, so you're really going to be able to see what your team is about."
Matt began his coaching career as one of the top AAU coaches in the country, coaching the Tennessee Flight, a Nike Elite travel program that Rick helped start.
During that time, Rick accepted the head coaching position at MTSU in May 2005, having built a high school girl's basketball dynasty at nearby Shelbyville Central High School, where he guided the school to 10 Tennessee state championship and two national championships.
After coaching the Tennessee Flight, Matt served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Louisiana Tech and then served the top assistant on Matthew Mitchell's staff at Kentucky, before being named head coach at Ole Miss.
"Matt wouldn't be where he is today if Rick didn't't stay and be a full-time father for him all those years ago," said Deb Insell, Matt's mother and Rick's wife.
"He had an opportunity to be at a Division I when Matt was 4 years old and he chose to not accept a Division I coaching job at Middle Tennessee State University at that time because our boys needed a father in their lives every day. I like to credit that Matt became a 30-year-old head coach in the SEC because he had a father every day in his life."
Matt and Rick have met four times previously, when Matt was an assistant coach at Kentucky, with Rick and Middle Tennessee winning both meetings Murfreesboro, and Matt and Kentucky winning both meetings in Lexington.
This meeting provides not only the toughest test yet for Matt and the Rebels, but also a measuring stick for progress. Meeting with his team, Matt stressed the importance of the game, not for him personally, but for the entire program.
"We have to focus in on how we can get a big win for our program and a big step in where we're going in our program because beating a top-20 RPI team goes a long way late in the season, if you put yourself in position to be in the tournament," Matt said.
"This is a big, big game for us, in terms of seeing where we're going. We'll prepare for this game, like we do for every game, but we'll have a little extra importance on this, more than just playing my dad. This is a big game for our program."
Austin Miller is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports.com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of the Daily Mississippian. Follow him on Twitter @austinkmiller.
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