Hall of Fame coach and women’s basketball pioneer Pat Summitt died June 28 after a legendary career that extended beyond the court in how she impacted her players’ lives. Her death came five years after she met her toughest opponent, early onset dementia ‘Alzheimer’s Type.’
Summitt spent all 38 years of her coaching career at Tennessee, before retiring in 2012 due to health concerns. During her tenure as head coach, UT never had a single losing season and went to 38 straight postseason tournaments. The iconic coach’s 1,098 total career victories is the most by any college coach in Division I history, regardless of gender.
Summitt’s teams took the world of women’s college basketball by storm, winning eight national championships. The only coaches in the history of college basketball who have won more are the legendary John Wooden, who won 10 national titles, and Geno Auriemma, with 11 titles.
Although Summitt’s list of accomplishments is remarkable, her impact to women’s college basketball and women’s sports in general is defined by much more than wins and titles. Summitt began her coaching career at the age of 22, just two years after the passage of Title IX, the legislation which aided in creating more athletic opportunities for women. Even with the new gender equity law in place, women’s basketball was not nearly as accredited as today. Summitt’s first annual salary in 1974 was just $8,900, and her duties consisted of washing uniforms and driving the team van.
In a 2009 interview with Time, Summitt described the struggles she and her teams went through in her early coaching years. Summitt said, “One time, for a road game, we actually slept in the other team’s gym the night before. We had mats, we had our little sleeping bags.”
However, Summitt never let the lack of funding or exposure for women’s athletics serve as a barrier. The legendary coach helped make women’s basketball credible, pushed for more TV exposure for the game and played a prominent role in efforts toward the first-ever NCAA women’s basketball tournament in 1982.
“I owe her a lot,” said NC State women’s basketball coach Wes Moore in an interview with WNCN. “She made a big impact on my coaching philosophy. To me, she put our game on the map. She was the trailblazer that broke it open for all of us. I think everybody in women’s basketball is indebted greatly to Pat Summitt.”
Summitt did not just strive for excellence on the court, she did it in every aspect of her life. Her winning mentality was something that rubbed off on the players she coached. Throughout her 38-year career, every Lady Vol who finished her NCAA eligibility at Tennessee graduated. A 100 percent graduation rate over such a great length of time is simply astounding, as the average annual graduation rate for women’s basketball reported by the NCAA in 2015 was 89 percent. Summitt touched the lives of her players in a multitude of ways, and there are currently eight former Lady Vols playing in the WNBA.
“She has changed the way I looked at life, and the way all her players have,” said former Lady Vol and current WNBA star Candace Parker about her former college coach in an ESPN interview just days before Summitt’s passing. “She’s not a person who just talks the talk, she walks the walk as well. She does exactly what she says. Through this disease, through Alzheimer’s, she’s been exactly what she’s lived her entire life, and that’s strong. That’s what we need to be right now. We need to be strong for everybody.”
The world of sports will always be grateful, and Summitt’s accomplishments will long be remembered both on and off the court.
