Hometown girl makes plans for future on The Murfreesboro Post

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Hometown girl makes plans for future

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By: JONATHAN HERRMANN, jherrmann@murfreesborpost.com

Posted: Sunday, April 3, 2011 6:52 am

Hometown girl makes plans for future | Sports, MTSU, Lady Raiders, Basketball, Anne Marie Lanning

Riverdale alum Anne Marie Lanning ends her career as an MTSU Lady Raider this year.

Murfreesboro native Anne Marie Lanning recently finished up her career as an athlete at Middle Tennessee State University.

After setting school records for scoring at Riverdale High School and leading the school to their first ever state championship in girl's basketball in 2007, Lanning put together a career as a Blue Raider to be proud of as well.

As a Lady Warrior, she averaged 25 points per game her senior year of high school and was named Class 3A tournament MVP. During her freshman year she 26 games, averaging 7.7 points per game, shooting 41.7 percent from the field.

She followed up her freshman year by putting up similar numbers as a sophomore. Lanning did see a rise in her assists numbers as a sophomore on the team.

As a junior, Lanning really had her coming out party as a Blue Raider. She scored in the double-digits in 11 of the last 14 games, scoring at least 12 from February 17 to March 8 of 2010.

This most recent season saw Lanning shoot just over 40 percent from behind the arc, hitting 73 three-point shots. She averaged 13.5 points per game and tallied 135 assists.

She became the 25th player in team history to score 1,000 points or more for her career January 23, 2011.

Her career has been full of memorable moments, including a double –overtime victory over Arkansas-Little Rock to win the Sun Belt Tournament in 2010. The Raiders also had wins over Louisville and Kentucky in that same season.

"We're not expected to win those game and people didn't expect us to win those games," Lanning said. "It's a good feeling to know you're good enough to win those."

The next step in Lanning's life may very well include basketball just like the last one, just from the sideline rather than the court itself.

"I got my bachelor's in exercise science and I thought I wanted to be in the weight room," Lanning said. "Then this year I started realizing I wanted to coach. You heard people saying I was like the coach on the floor."

"Then one day, Coach (Rick) Insell called me after practice and said Anne Marie you need to be coaching. We talked about it for about thirty minutes. That really got me excited about it."

Lanning credits coach Insell in large part for giving her the desire to coach and to keep basketball as a major part of her life.

"He knows what he wants, he knows what he's doing and it shows through the success we've had," she said. "I appreciate everything he's done for me. I respect him to the fullest."

In the fall Lanning plans to begin her master's degree in sports management and hopes to be a graduate assistant for basketball.

For now, Lanning wants to take time to enjoy the little things she missed while dedicating so much time to the game of basketball at Middle Tennessee like spending more time with her family.

"I wouldn't have traded it for the world. It's the best four years of my life and I'm sad that it's over."

Tagged under Anne Marie Lanning, Basketball, Lady Raiders, MTSU, Sports

Member Opinions:

By: mlb7b_mtsu_s11 on 4/7/11
Not to overly credit this ball player but Anne Marie is something special. True, I'm doing this post for a class but who better to do it on than her. I wish her the best of luck in all that she chooses to conquer in life. From watching her in the stands at Riverdale to seeing her on a MTSU platform still progressing is a definite pleasure. A person in her shoes may feel pressure to be someone to the public eye, but I'm positive Anne Marie is quite similar on and off the court. I would not doubt for a second that she wouldn't be a superb coach for any organization. When you come from a hard working environment like Riverdale, here in Murfreesboro, it is instilled in you to achieve the unthinkable. Hats off to coach Insell as well. The Lady Raiders did an excellent job this past year, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for this program. How many Seniors were on the team this year? Coach Insell obviously has an eye for young talent, and the skills to develop them into rising stars. Best of blessings for you Anne Marie and the remaining Lady Raiders!