“I do think people forget that the world was not ready or totally accepting to her approach or, for lack of a better word, intensity”, said Delaney-Smith. I’ll always treasure the laughter we shared, the stories we loved to tell and certainly those stories we embellished. Conradt says her “passion, her fire, her love and knowledge of the game, put her in an elite class of coaches”. “It was a milestone fighting for her sport, fighting for her players”. “She was an extremely great coach”, Norton emphasized.
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“What you saw in these finals days was what Pat Summitt was as a person”. “They’re not basketball players. She is the Lady Vols”, said Cornelius. “She was asking me what we run offensively and what we do defensively; and I’m thinking, ‘Ok, this is Pat Summitt-and she’s concerned about what I’m doing”.
“She was an incredible force and spirit who helped motivate thousands of women, young and old, athletic and otherwise”, Griffin said.
Summitt’s humor and openness remained intact despite criticism early in her career when her track record was not established and she was deemed by some too intense for a women’s coach.
Between them they won more than half of the 35 basketball championships since the advent of the NCAA Tournament in 1981-82.
Summitt, then Pat Head, competed in the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, the first year women competed in basketball at the Olympics. She spent time talking with me after the season. Whether it was raising awareness or funds, Summitt was tremendously impactful said Jim Ward, CEO and president of the Nashville chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“I’m going to keep on keeping on”. Pat’s competitive spirit, attention to detail with her trademark defense, and her ability to motivate each player to play their role and trust their teammate was her formula for championships.
Current Tennessee football coach Butch Jones says he “stands in awe of Pat and what she accomplished on and off the court”. “I think my heart is heavy along with a whole lot of Tennesseans who are just grateful for what Pat has meant, and we’re also appreciative of the fact that she’s called Tennessee home over all this time”. “My thoughts and prayers are with Tyler and their entire family”. After being diagnosed with the disease at age 59 and having her doctor tell her she should retire she famously said: “Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”, showing the same characteristic toughness and determination that defined not only her as a coach, but that flowed through her teams as well.
“Pat Summitt was many things to many people. It was the highest compliment she could give you, when she expected so much from you”. I had the privilege of spending time with Pat during my first year at Tennessee, and those are conversations I will cherish forever. She is someone I admired when I decided I wanted to get into coaching. We were fortunate to share 19 years together in Knoxville and without question I am both a better person and coach because of it.
“Today, we lost a part of the game that can never be replaced. No matter how many awards she received or how many celebrities she knew, whenever she came back she still was the same girl and made us feel very special”.
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“She will be deeply missed”.
