“When she took the helm at Tennessee as a 22-year-old, she had to wash her players’ uniforms; by the time Pat stepped down as the Lady Vols’ head coach, her teams wore eight championship rings and had cut down nets in sold-out stadiums”.
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Summitt’s son said she died peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones. She was the most winningest coach of Division I women’s basketball.
PAT SUMMITT, University of Tennessee Basketball Coach: We were young, but we were very athletic, and very skilled, and I think the one ingredient that probably separated our team night in and night out was just our competitiveness.
She was born and raised in the state, played basketball at Tennessee-Martin, and spent her entire coaching career at the University of Tennessee – a career that spanned nearly four decades.
Metro State coach Tanya Haave, a former Tennessee basketball player, was inspired by Summitt to pursue a coaching career. “I listened to her speak at clinics, watched the videos and drills that she did, the amount of time that she was around the game, a lot of people stole her approaches to how to play the game”, explained Rogers.
Summitt’s heart, her legacy and her legendary program is still inspiring.
“We always say without Pat Summitt, the Hall of Fame wouldn’t be here and there may not even have been a Hall of Fame”, Dana Hart said. She was incredible, inspirational and has a consensus spot on the Mount Rushmore of American coaches.
“I just enjoyed her – enjoyed learning from her, enjoyed watching her work and spending time with her”, he said. When one of the greatest coaches in women’s college basketball and one of the greatest coaches in basketball did that, it made me feel so important.
Lewandowski said she tries to emulate Summitt’s famous staredown with her own players in OH, but she said no one can do it like Pat.
Those who coached against Summitt were touched by her as well.
Summitt stands in company with UCLA mens’ head coach John Wooden and UConn womens’ head coach Geno Auriemma- both who have won 10 NCAA national championship titles. Haave said it was not just a “I don’t want to get yelled at”. Pat’s reach extended beyond sports and her contributions and character will live on. “She’s been a part of my life for so long, and I’ve leaned on her and relied on her, so it’s been a tough day today”. When you got to know her, you could understand why people so fiercely defend her and respect her so much.
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Summitt’s Tennessee team upset USC in the regional finals of 1982, denying the Trojans a chance to win three consecutive tournaments.
