MATT INSELL

Former Shelbyville Central basketball standout Matt Insell recently continued his climb up the coaching ladder when he became an assistant women's coach at the University of Kentucky.

Insell, the son of former Golden Eaglette coach and current Middle Tennessee women's head coach Rick Insell, played for Shelbyville Central coach Kevin Thomas in high school before becoming a very successful coach in the AAU ranks and director of basketball operations at Louisiana Tech.

He joins second-year head coach Matthew Mitchell and will be responsible for coaching guards along with recruiting.

"Matt has worked several years now to prepare for this opportunity," Mitchell said in a recent press release. "He has developed a network of contacts across the country that makes him a very valuable asset to our recruiting efforts. He also has experience in developing and preparing players, coaching a number of players who have played at the highest level in collegiate basketball. It is clear to me that he has the desire, energy and enthusiasm to help Kentucky reach our goals of being the best in the country."

Insell, 25, graduated from MTSU in 2007 after attending Tennessee from 2001 to 2005.

While at Tennessee, Insell worked closely with both the men's and women's basketball programs, serving as a student assistant/video coordinator under former men's coach Buzz Peterson and as an instructor at Pat Summitt's summer basketball camps.

He was very successful coaching the Tennessee Flight, a Nike Elite travel program, for three years. He also coached the Shelbyville Sports Shop 15-Under team to the AAU national championship title in 2004.

"I'm very happy to be at Kentucky," Insell said. "What drew me here was coach Mitchell's passion to take this program to a national championship level year in, year out. His passion to succeed was a big selling point for me. The basketball tradition here means everything and when you think of Kentucky, you think of basketball. This is a special place."

Insell's knowledge of the game and desire to coach was noticeable, according to Thomas.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Matt knew he wanted to become a basketball coach when he was in high school," Thomas said. "He was actually like a coach on the floor and he really understood the game at an early age.

"Matt has always had some contacts and influences through his dad but over the years he has broadened that and made his own contacts and relationships. He was smart enough and knew what he wanted to do in life and he's taken advantage of that and to me, that's a great compliment to him."