Matt Insell was raised in a positive home.
Watching the ups and downs his father, Rick, experienced as a head basketball coach prepared him for the road he was going to travel in the same profession.
Life as director of basketball operations at Louisiana Tech and as assistant basketball coach at Kentucky allowed him to see the challenges coaches face in building championship programs.
That’s why now, immersed in his first full season as Ole Miss women’s basketball coach, none of the things he has experienced has been unexpected. Granted, Ole Miss’ 9-10 start to the season and its 0-5 record in the Southeastern Conference isn’t what he hoped for 19 games into his first season, but Insell is enthusiastic as ever as he prepares for his first game against Mississippi State (14-4, 1-4) in his tenure in Oxford at 6 p.m. Thursday at Tad Smith Coliseum.
“We know it is going to circle eventually and that the world is going to turn in our favor,” Insell said. “We keep talking about selling our process. We sell our process in a team meeting every morning. We knew the road was going to be bumpy, but we didn’t want it to be 0-5 bumpy to start SEC play, but we’re going to keep pushing for however many wins we can get. Whatever that ends up being, that’s the best we can do this year.”
Ole Miss is coming off a 68-65 loss to Arkansas on Sunday. SEC Freshman of the Week Jessica Jackson scored a game-high 31 points in the victory to send the Rebels to their 10th-straight SEC loss, dating back to last season. Ole Miss’ last victory in the league was a 65-51 win against MSU on Feb. 14, 2013, in Oxford. Interim head coach Brett Frank guided the Rebels to that victory.
Insell was hired last March to bring stability to a program that is on its fourth coach in two years. Adrian Wiggins replaced Renee Ladner following the 2011-12 season, but he never coached a game at the school following a scandal that involved impermissible recruiting contact and academic misconduct that resulted in the firing of two assistant coaches and two recruits being denied admission to the school. Frank led Ole Miss to a 9-20 finish (2-14 in the league) that included a self-imposed postseason ban that prevented it from participating in the SEC tournament.
Insell’s resume includes a five-year stint at Kentucky in which he worked in player development and recruiting and helped build the program into a national power. He stressed when he was hired he was going to bring an up-tempo approach to Ole Miss and that his teams were going to play aggressive defense just like Kentucky.
So far, the results have been mixed. Central Arkansas surprised Ole Miss in November in Oxford. The team then went 0-3 at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. But Insell said the Rebels have improved greatly since then. A seven-game winning streak followed the Hawaii trip and preceded a seven-point loss to nationally ranked Baylor in Waco, Texas. Ole Miss also has played Missouri (85-76) and nationally ranked Vanderbilt (80-74) close, but Insell acknowledges his team is far from where he wants it to be.
“We started out trying to convince them they can win,” Insell said. “That was the process early on. We had to convince them Baylor laces up their shoes the same way they do and that we were here with the mentality to win and that we were going to give everything we have got and we’ll see what happens. We have proven it against Baylor, we have proven it against a good Missouri team that makes 16 threes, and we have proven it against Vanderbilt in that we were right there down one or two points (late in the game). Now we have to show them how to do it and how to finish it off.
“The process has changed the last two weeks. Now they’re at this crossroads and you are going to win or lose and there is a minute and a half left in these games and this is what you have to fix.”
Insell said the players have bought in to the system and that they have developed a better understanding of “winning and losing plays.” He believes great things will happen with even better recruiting classes and improved execution of his plan.
“The day and age of Ole Kiss women’s basketball at the bottom of the SEC are over,” Insell said. “If you are going to beat us, you’re going to have to play your butts off to beat us.”
Ole Miss enters its first of two regular-season games against MSU fifth in the SEC in scoring offense (75.6 points per game), 14th in scoring defense (73.7 ppg.), 12th in field goal percentage defense (41.4 percent), and 14th in field goal percentage (40.4). The defensive numbers are most troubling for Insell, who said his team doesn’t have the depth in the backcourt to play the same kind of trapping and pressure defense that catapulted Kentucky to the top of the league.
For example, in 2008-09, Insell’s first year at Kentucky, the Wildcats allowed 61.2 ppg., forced 541 turnovers, and finished 16-16. A year later, Kentucky allowed 59.6 ppg. but forced 823 turnovers en route to a 28-8 breakout year.
Insell said times have changed since then, especially with tighter officiating that has led to higher scoring games. Still, he said his goal remains to push the Rebels toward the Wildcats’ formula. He said an incoming recruiting class that includes three standout guards will help the program get closer to that goal.
Until then, Insell will continue to be positive and to sell his plan. He said he has heard numerous recruits and their families who believe in his blueprint and like the direction the program is going. That is exactly what Insell wants to hear as he continues to preach positivity and to talk about transforming the Ole Miss women’s basketball program.
“I am a very positive and confident person,” Insell said. “We know it is going to take time, and we tell them it is going to take time. But we’re going to keep believing. Our confidence is not going to go anywhere. We’re going to keep playing every game like it is game seven.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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