This person changed his/her respective sport along the lines of what Jackie Robinson did for baseball. This person has the coaching acumen of a Phil Jackson, the tenacity to win like a Michael Jordan, and only second to the "Wizard of Westwood", John Wooden in number of championships won. This person was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the CENTURY in April 2000 and is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division with 1098 victories.
This coach won a gold medal as a player in the 1975 Pan American Games. In addition, won a Silver Medal as a player in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics and then won the Gold Medal as a coach in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. This person coached for 38 years for the same team!!!
With this person at the helm, this team was a:
- 16-time Conference Champion
- 16-time Conference Tournament Champion
- 8-time Conference Coach of the Year
- 7-time NCAA Coach of the Year
- 8-time NCAA National Champion
This coach has been inducted into numerous Halls of Fame, named to Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest coaches of all time in all sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college basketball, and college football), has not one but TWO courts named after him/her, a street named after him/her and was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012.
This coach holds records such as:
- Most seasons coached without a losing record - 38 seasons
- Most consecutive postseason appearances - 38 seasons
- Most wins in NCAA postseason play - 109
- Most NCAA Final Four appearances - 16
- Most 20-win seasons - 36, all consecutive
- Most 30-win seasons - 20
If you have not figured it out by now, the coach I am referring to goes by the name Pat Summit. Pat redefined women's collegiate basketball while becoming an ambassador for the men's and women's game. While only coaching for the University of Tennessee Volunteers, she was asked not once but twice by the Athletic Director to coach the men's team.
In August 2011, Pat Summit was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease which has forced her to step down as the Head Coach of the Lady Volunteers after 38 years at the helm. She will remain with the team as Head Coach Emeritus but will not be allowed to sit on the team bench during games.
I know I am not alone when I say that Pat's face, even better her now-famous scowl she gave any player or referee within 94 feet, will be sorely missed on the sideline. It will feel like something is missing because when you think of women's college basketball, the first name that comes to mind is Pat Summit. Although her coaching has come to an abrupt end, her legacy will continue through the 45 players who have become coaches under her watch.
I am writing about a woMAN in regards to a sport a MAN invented (Naismith) because looking at the aforementioned statistics, she has coached the game better than any man will ever!!! And if these stats are not convincing enough, how about this one: EVERY LADY VOL PLAYER who has ever played for Pat Summit has completed their eligibility and graduated with a degree from the University of Tennessee. Name me another coach who can say the same, who can say every player they have coached has graduated, man or woman? Don't worry, I will wait!!!!!!
The landscape of the men's game has become so bad, it is a miracle if a player stays all four years and if he graduates, it is by the Grace of God. Pat Summit took a program that was nothing from the start and built it into arguably the top program in women's basketball and she did it without ever being accused of cheating or breaking any NCAA rules and then had the nerve, the audacity to graduate every player she coached for 38 years!
Thank you Pat Summit for everything you have given to the game of basketball. You are a true representation of excellence, integrity, honesty, grace, love of the game.
As a man and a basketball coach, I will go on record and say the men have a long ways to go before we reach this SUMMIT!!!
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