A Look Back at Pat Summitt’s Milestones

A few of the many accomplishments of eight-time National Champion Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt.
A Look Back at Pat Summitt’s Milestones
AWARDS AND HONORS: Basketball coach Pat Summitt attends the 30th Annual Salute To Women In Sports Awards at The Waldorf Astoria on October 13, 2009 in New York City. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for the Women's Sports Foundation)
Dave Martin
8/24/2011
Updated:
8/26/2011
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/SummittTwo91866652_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/SummittTwo91866652_medium.jpg" alt="AWARDS AND HONORS: Basketball coach Pat Summitt attends the 30th Annual Salute To Women In Sports Awards at The Waldorf Astoria on October 13, 2009 in New York City. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for the Women's Sports Foundation)" title="AWARDS AND HONORS: Basketball coach Pat Summitt attends the 30th Annual Salute To Women In Sports Awards at The Waldorf Astoria on October 13, 2009 in New York City. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for the Women's Sports Foundation)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-131318"/></a>
AWARDS AND HONORS: Basketball coach Pat Summitt attends the 30th Annual Salute To Women In Sports Awards at The Waldorf Astoria on October 13, 2009 in New York City. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for the Women's Sports Foundation)
With this week’s surprising (and saddening) news that eight-time National Champion Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt has early onset dementia, and her non-surprising decision to continue coaching, we will respect her decision to not throw a “pity party”, as she put it, but will celebrate her coaching prowess by recalling her top 10 moments (there are plenty to choose from) as the Lady Vols’ head honcho (honchess??). On to the list:

10. November 12, 2003—Secures commitment from high school phenom Candace Parker. Parker, the only two-time winner of the USA Today High School Player of the Year and the fifth female to dunk in a game (first H.S. player), is clearly a much sought-after recruit and announces her decision to attend Tennessee on ESPNEWS. The Summitt-Parker relationship would prove to be a fruitful one.

9. March 22, 2005—
Win number 880, a second-round NCAA tourney victory over Purdue gives her the NCAA men’s or women’s basketball wins record, (passing Dean Smith) having already surpassed Texas’ Jody Conradt’s women’s record three years earlier.

8. 1984 Olympics—Summitt, having already received a silver medal as a player (and co-captain) in the ‘76 games, receives a gold medal as head coach of the women’s team, becoming the first U.S. competitor to achieve the dual-medaling feat.

7. January 10, 1975—Summitt’s (then known as Pat Head) first win came over Middle Tennessee State—a 69–32 drubbing. At the time, women’s basketball was still not an NCAA-sanctioned sport. Summitt, just 22 years old at the time, had been on the job a month before her this first breakthrough. The Lady Vols’ team would wind up with a 16-8 record—still tied for her lowest season win total, which was equaled the next season, when she split time training for the Olympics and earning her Master’s in physical education.

6. February 5, 2009—Summitt’s 1000th win is a 73–43 beatdown of Georgia at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. The arena’s court was soon named “The Summitt” in her honor. Following the regular season, Summitt’s two-time defending champs would be knocked out in the first round—the first time the Lady Vols would fail to advance to even the Sweet 16 since the NCAA women’s tourney started way back in 1982.

5. March 29, 1987—
The Lady Vols’ finally break through for a national championship—Summitt’s first—by taking down nemesis Louisiana Tech 67–44 in the title game. The feat also marks the fourth time in six NCAA tourneys that Tennessee reaches the Final Four.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/SummittThree80569107_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/SummittThree80569107_medium-313x450.jpg" alt="ANOTHER TRIUMPH: Head coach Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates by cutting down the net after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four, April 8, 2008. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)" title="ANOTHER TRIUMPH: Head coach Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates by cutting down the net after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four, April 8, 2008. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-131319"/></a>
ANOTHER TRIUMPH: Head coach Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates by cutting down the net after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four, April 8, 2008. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
4. April 2, 1989—Tennessee cuts down the nets for the second time in three years after downing fellow SEC opponent, Auburn, 76–60. The win avenges one of two earlier losses and caps a 35-win season—most until her 97-98 team’s 39.

3. March 31, 1991—Summit’s third title in five years comes in dramatic fashion as the Lady Vols’ escape Virginia in overtime 70–67. The win avenged a loss to Virginia the previous season in the Elite Eight—also in overtime.

2. April 8, 2008—After watching UConn’s Geno Auriemma take home the hardware four times during the earlier part of the decade, Summitt’s Vols defeat Stanford 64–48 to avenge an earlier regular season loss and capture their second straight title, after previously defeating Rutgers 59–46 the year before. The back-to-back championships are the first for Summitt since the late 90’s and are the pinnacle of 2008 AP Player-of-the-Year Candace Parker’s collegiate career. The NCAA Final Four appearance marks Summitt’s record-18th in 27 tourneys.

1. March 29, 1998—The Lady Vols cap a perfect 39-0 season by beating Louisiana Tech 93–75 to take home their unprecedented third straight title after previously besting Old Dominion 68–59 and Georgia 83–65 the preceding two years. At the time, the three-peat gives Summitt six of the 17 women’s NCAA tournament titles, while the 39 wins are a record Auriemma’s teams have tied, but never broken.
Dave Martin is a New-York based writer as well as editor. He is the sports editor for the Epoch Times and is a consultant to private writers.
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