Middle Tennessee State women’s basketball coach Rick Insell is having another honor added to his prestigious career.
Insell, who just completed his 20th season as the Blue Raiders’ coach, is being inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame.
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Insell will join Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty, Jessica Lucas and Travis Hudson and former Southern Miss baseball star Nick Sandlin in the 2025 class.
It’s Insell’s ninth hall of fame selection throughout his high school and college coaching career that spans nearly 50 years.
“Every one of them is special,” Insell told The Daily News Journal. “You don’t get into coaching thinking, ‘I work hard so I can get into the hall of fame.’ You work hard every day, do what you need to do with players, your community and your school, and then things start falling into place.
“I cherish every one of them. They all mean something to me. When CUSA came to me about it, I was really surprised.”
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Insell, the reigning CUSA Coach of the Year, is the third from MTSU to be inducted into the CUSA Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2019. He joins former football great Kevin Byard and legendary track and field coach Dean Hayes. Both were inducted in 2024.
“Rick Insell has set the standard for excellence in women’s basketball, not just at Middle Tennessee, but across Conference USA,” MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro said in a release. “His accomplishments speak volumes — the championships, the wins, the national recognition — but it’s his passion, integrity and relentless commitment to his student-athletes that truly define his legacy. We are incredibly proud to see him take his rightful place in the Conference USA Hall of Fame.”
Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell on watches the players during Middle Tennessee women’s basketball practice on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
Insell, who had a long high school coaching career at Shelbyville before coming to MTSU in 2005, has guided the Blue Raiders to a 489-165 record, including a 295-54 mark in CUSA play. Since joining the league in 2013-14, the Lady Raiders have won four regular-season titles and nine tournament championships.
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“Rick Insell is the embodiment of excellence, not only in wins and championships, but in how he has represented Middle Tennessee with class, passion and purpose,” said MTSU President Sidney McPhee in a release. “His impact on women’s basketball is felt across the nation, and his induction into the Conference USA Hall of Fame is a well-deserved recognition of a coach who has elevated our university, inspired generations of student-athletes, and built a program that reflects the very best of who we are.”
Conference USA is the ninth hall of fame induction for Insell, including TSSAA (2003), National High School (2007), Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement for High School Girls Basketball (2010), Tennessee Sports (2012), Cannon County Sports (2013), Women’s Basketball (2017), Blue Raiders Sports (2017) and the Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee (2021).
CUSA’s Hall of Fame Committee selects the nominees, and the league’s ADs serve as the voting panel.
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Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU women’s basketball coach Rick Insell named to CUSA Hall of Fame
