Middle Tennessee and St. Bonaventure’s second round Women’s National Invitation Tournament game saw two historic coaches battle it out for just the second time in history.
MTSU head coach Rick Insell is synonymous with basketball in Middle Tennessee and St. Bona’s Jim Crowley is the same in Western New York.
“Years ago when we were pretty good, we scheduled Middle Tennessee in a tournament, because we had so much respect for what a great program they are,” Crowley said. “Purposely did it in a tournament, because I didn’t want to come down here and play. I don’t know what, 15 years later, that’s still true.”
That first Christmas break matchup saw both programs near its highest point, St. Bonaventure a few years away from a NCAA Sweet 16 run and MTSU coming off back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championships.
Standout names that took the floor include Bonnies’ Megan Van Tatenhove, Jessica Jenkins, Alaina Walker and MTSU’s Ebony Rowe, Anne Marie Lanning and Keke Stewart.
MTSU won the first matchup up 58-53.
The second battle saw a different version of each team; The Bonnies were in their first postseason in a decade, and the Lady Raiders are a team rebuilt after last year.
The respective coaches are in a completely different game from when they started in the early 2000’s, with a new era of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness.
“Well, I think more than anything, it’s a young man’s game now,” Insell said. “…I’m not overly excited about it [the transfer portal and NIL] and if you’re going to win you got to be passionate about that just like your passionate about putting a team together.”
The longtime Lady Raiders’ coach announced that he would retire at the end of the WNIT.
Both coaches saw the positive effect that the transfer portal can have. The Bonnies’ two leading scorers, Laycee Drake and Aaliyah Parker, along with MTSU’s leading scorer Alayna Contreras, all come from the portal.
Crowley credits the energy that the athletes bring into the program when they trust each other and are willing to learn.
“The great thing about what we do is, we keep getting older, but we keep dealing with folks the same age,” Crowley said. “…I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I do, where I do it and for as long as I have…I mean my body tells me differently but with my energy, my heart, I feel like I’m 35 still because of these guys.”
Insell has nearly two decades of coaching on Crowley, but both still have some time on the hardwood, whether it’s a few weeks or years.
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