She coached one more season before retiring, and detailed her struggle with dementia in a co-written book released in March 2013. When she retired, she ranked only behind Wooden in national championships. She became the first NCAA coach to win 1,000 games February 5, 2009, and received a new contract that boosted her annual salary to $1.4 million – far removed from the $8,900 of her first season.
Advertisement
North Carolina coach Roy Williams echoed those sentiments, noting Summitt belonged on “a Mount Rushmore of coaching”. We said yes sir and no sir.
“Nobody walked off a college basketball court victorious more times than Tennessee’s Pat Summitt. She said, ‘Run sprints, and run them fast'”. The former head coach had her eyes peeled on the 6-1 forward while Michelle attended junior high and high school. Fargas won national titles as a player (1991) and assistant (2007, 2008) at Tennessee.
Pat Summitt and her Tennessee women’s basketball teams were a thorn in Auburn’s side, but the rivalry between her and former head coach Joe Ciampi is one that makes the SEC great.
Summitt’s jersey hangs in a trophy case along with other memorabilia, all serving as an inspiration to those who know her when.
A representative of the family says the event will begin at 7 p.m.at Thompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus.
Summitt’s greatest adversary on the court was Auriemma.
In the end, Hatchell said, no one did more for women’s basketball than Summitt, and this legacy has made Hatchell more determined in her own career than ever before.
The Lady Vols became must-see TV in the sport as Summitt put the women’s game on the national stage with six national titles in the span of 12 years.
If it was good enough for Summitt and Tennessee, there was no doubting its quality.
“She used her platform to try to help somebody else”, Akers said.
“She was a genuine, humble leader who focused on helping people achieve more than they thought they were capable of accomplishing”. Pat’s reach extended beyond sports and her contributions and character will live on.
And here was Ruley, who produced an fantastic 671-198 record at NDSU, listening to Summitt tell stories in her house.
Bob Kesling, the university’s director of broadcasting, once was the radio voice of the Lady Vols. When she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, the Hall of Fame coach vowed to keep coaching, claiming “This is not a pity party”. She was a proud Tennessean who, when she went into labor while on a recruiting visit, demanded the pilot return to Knoxville so her son could be born in her home state. She was an outstanding Tennessean. She enjoyed it while she was coaching, but to really have an opportunity to sit back and appreciate all the lives she touched, all the wonderful things that she accomplished.
Van Hauen said the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association has done a lot to support the fight to fight a cure for Alzheimer’s and raise money for Pat Summitt’s foundation, The Pat Summitt Foundation.
She was a trailblazer as well as a coach, heading the Tennessee program, and women’s basketball, through four decades of growth.
“Even though it’s incredibly hard to come to terms that she is no longer with us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this disease”, he added. That is something Steele said is hard to believe, but if anybody can do it, it’s Summitt. If anyone could pull out a miracle it would be coach Summitt.
“With Pat, you had to be on top of your game”, said Griffin, whose runs the Allentown-based events company MSG Promotions.
She was even loving to her competitors.
Advertisement
Peck went on to coach Purdue to the 1999 NCAA title.
