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.
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.
