By the time the Shelbyville Central High School girls’ basketball team was honored as Team of the Year in 1991, they had been ranked higher than any other high school team in the U.S. for the previous consecutive seven years. They had the distinction of being the number-one team in the nation as rated by “USA Today” at the conclusion of the 1988-1989 season, with a 36-0 record after winning the TSSAA State Championship. They ended the 1989-1990 season as the number-two team in the U.S., with a 35-6 record. And during the 1990-1991 season they once again were back on top in the rankings. Under the direction of Coach Rick Insell, the Golden Eaglettes had won 360 games against just sixty-six losses going into the 1990-1991 season, as well as eleven district titles, seven regional championships, three state runner-up crowns, three TSSAA state tournament championships, and one national title! Coach Insell was three times named the “Nashville Tennessean” Coach of the Year, was selected National High School Coach of the Year in 1989 by “USA Today”, and was the recipient of the 1990 Converse National High School Coach of the Year award. The term “dynasty” may get thrown around a bit too much in the sports world, but it is truly a fitting title for the Shelbyville Central High School Golden Eaglettes of the late eighties and early nineties.
