Greetings Techster fans from BlueRaiderZone.com!

[RaiderInTheZone]

Louisiana Tech is one of those storied programs that has etched their names in college women's basketball history and Sun Belt history. We at Middle Tennessee are seeing some very exciting things out of our team and coaching staff, and we often wonder if we could do it like La Tech did it, and like Old Dominion did it.

I just wanted to take the time to invite you guys over to the best Middle Tennessee forum and Middle Tennessee women's basketball messageboard on the Internet at BlueRaiderZone.com.

I thought it would be nice to hear some of the stories from fans of other former champions of what it was like during those glory years and to hear about the kinds of players involved in making national titles become a reality.

Here is a direct link to the thread if you wish to add anything:

http://mb16.scout.com/fmiddletenness...icID=115.topic

Louisiana Tech fans are always welcomed to join us anytime!

[LT]

Congratulations on your success. One of your stars comes from 30 miles down the freeway. Do you have the young players to stay ahead of WKU next year? I hope we can add MTSU and Missouri State to our schedule next year. We are 0-2 against the Sunbelt this year.
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Lovely Wendie99

[RaiderInTheZone]

Congratulations on your success. One of your stars comes from 30 miles down the freeway. Do you have the young players to stay ahead of WKU next year? I hope we can add MTSU and Missouri State to our schedule next year. We are 0-2 against the Sunbelt this year.

Thanks for the kind words. This year's team has two very reliable seniors--Chrissy Givens and Krystle Horton. Both of these ladies are very good players and team leaders. Givens is a likely WNBA 1st Round draft pick and All-American. She attended Ouchita Parish High School in Monroe. She is probably the player you are referring to.

My belief is that Middle Tennessee is on the rise and that we will continue to distance ourselves ahead of Western Kentucky because of the recruiting edge that Insell brings to the table with years of AAU experience when he coached at nearby Shelbyville. Insell recruited Brandi Brown and Jackie Pickel in the offseason. These two freshman combined for 15 3-pointers in the 93-63 win over North Dakota State. These two ladies, along with sophomore Johnna Abney of Mount Vernon, KY devasted Louisiana-Monroe earlier in the season connecting on 16 3-pointers in a 44-point victory over the Warhawks.

We also have a great inside presence in Georgia transfer, Amber Holt, who I believe will have one or two more years of eligibilty after this season.

Insell has us on the move. His '07 class currently ranks 28th in the nation by BlueStar. I think Insell really would like to get Louisiana Tech on the schedule. His connections helped us get home games against #1 Maryland and Colonial power Old Dominion this season. We're getting the Lady Vols at home next season as well.

We believe that if Louisiana Tech could do it, then we can. Should Middle Tennessee win the Sun Belt Tournament title again, it would be the fourth straight title making us and Louisiana Tech as the only two programs in Sun Belt history to have won at least 4-straight Sun Belt tournament titles. However, I believe Louisiana Tech won 5 or 6 straight and that would be an impressive record to match.

[Dirtydawg]

Middle Tennessee faces a more daunting task than did Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech took advantage of the fact that hardly any of the major conference schools cared about wbb back when we were a power. It was Tech's signature program for years, and arguably still is. That is why you have seen the Techsters fall lately. Our administration doesn't do what it takes to keep them, or any of our programs for that matter, at the level they need to be to have the success we've had in the past. That and the fact that with the advent of the BCS, these major conference schools have more money to throw to their gender equity sports. But, good luck in your building your program. I hope you're successful.

[johnnylightnin]

Not only did we excell at a time when few others were paying attention to WBB, we made our name when the NCAA didn't require schools to spend proportionally on women's sports. That, paired with the monopoly of the Bowl Championship Series have TOTALLY changed the game.

[RaiderInTheZone]

Middle Tennessee faces a more daunting task than did Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech took advantage of the fact that hardly any of the major conference schools cared about wbb back when we were a power. It was Tech's signature program for years, and arguably still is. That is why you have seen the Techsters fall lately. Our administration doesn't do what it takes to keep them, or any of our programs for that matter, at the level they need to be to have the success we've had in the past. That and the fact that with the advent of the BCS, these major conference schools have more money to throw to their gender equity sports. But, good luck in your building your program. I hope you're successful.

I never really thought of it like that, but you have a point. It looks like the only way we will be able to compete is if we continue to pull in the recruits like UConn and Tennessee, but that's not going to happen in one year. I think we can take recruits from those schools gradually and build our program up as the years go by. Middle Tennessee at one point had a BlueStar Top 10 recruiting class during the last recruiting season before we signed a girl who wasn't rated and had one that was ranked 13th in the nation decommit to take some time off, but we hear she is coming back next season. Obviously recruiting is going to be the key to our success as well as good fan support. We had a school record 10,010 in attendance for our season home opener against #1 Maryland. We are very excited, but we think we have the program to get it done. We'd love to join Louisiana Tech in the Sun Belt history books.

[beaux66]

Middle Tennessee's, Techs,Missouri st's are only going to have occasional break through final fours. Not consistent one's like Uconn and LSU. They are now in reloading stages to be good every year. The smaller schools are going to have great years but it won't be year in and year out.

[champion110]

Middle Tennessee's, Techs,Missouri st's are only going to have occasional break through final fours. Not consistent one's like Uconn and LSU. They are now in reloading stages to be good every year. The smaller schools are going to have great years but it won't be year in and year out.

Tennessee and UConn are not even cosistent with championships these days and they will not be consistent with FF's soon. Parity is taking care of that, as much as anything else.

[RaiderInTheZone]

Hey, Lady Techster fans. The entire Scout network is converting over to a new format for it's messageboards and will take effect in about one or two weeks. Scout is moving out of the EZBoard format and going to one all on it's own.

Here is the link to the new formatted board for Middle Tennessee:

http://forums.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=34...02#S=349&FIX=1

I'm still trying to learn how to use this board myself. The Scout directory doesn't lead you to other forums in this format right now, but it's my understanding that every Scout board will eventually look like this when the EZBoard contract expires in a week or so.

[LT]

How did Givens end up at MTSU? Did we even recruit her?
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[RaiderInTheZone]

How did Givens end up at MTSU? Did we even recruit her?

That's a good question, and I don't know if I have heard the full story. Former Middle Tennessee headcoach, Stephany Smith, recruited her. I saw Chrissy at our game with Arkansas State tonight. Next time I have the opportunity, I think I'll ask her that.

[LT]

Congrats on the impressive win. A State had a dominating streak going until they met you.
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[RaiderInTheZone]

Congrats on the impressive win. A State had a dominating streak going until they met you.

Well, stAte did lose to Troy but other than that they are pretty good. Can you imagine just how good a league could be if it had Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and Arkansas State in it? You might even throw the Ragin' Cajuns and Florida International into that list too. That core of schools would make for one heckuva' women's basketball conference!