Summit not only ruled the sport; she built it

In sports, plenty of players and coaches have played significant roles in the history of their game. Many dominate. Some transcend their athletic field. But few come into their field in its infancy and manage to play the central part in  lifting it off the ground. On Tuesday, we lost a woman who did all of that and then some.

In 1974, sports were just two years removed from Title IX, so women still had a long way to climb in their athletic endeavors. The fact that the University of Tennessee put their faith in a woman who was just 22 years young shows how little the interest was in woman's sports. But thank god that UT gave that job to said 22-year-old, or else who knows where her sport would be today. Pat Summit was her name.

Born Patrica Head, Summit grew up a tough, athletic farm girl in the state of Tennessee. She played basketball at the University of Tennessee-Martin, and two years after beginning her legendary career at UT was a member of the first U.S. Woman's basketball team to compete in the Olympics. Pat did what she always did, which was win, and the Stars and Stripes earned a gold medal. But her legend was just growing

Over the next 38 years, Summit's Vols became the class of Woman's colligate sports. The numbers speak for themselves; 8 national titles, 16 SEC championships (32 if you combine regular season and tournament) and 1,098 victories. But to me, the most impressive thing about Summit's coaching was not what she won, but rather her style. She commanded respect, and could get to her players just by staring at them. I believe that had Summit wanted to challenge herself further, she could have not
only held her own coaching in the Men's game; she would have excelled.


It's easy to be skeptical of wheather or not Annika Sorenstam would have won the Masters, if Serena
Williams could beat Roger Federer, or if Lisa Leslie could have won an NBA Scoring Title. But if you followed Pat Summit even sporadically throughout her career, you know that she could motivate anybody. Combine that with her knowledge of the game of basketball, and there's no telling what she would have brought to the men's game. It's hard to explain, but Summit had that "it" that all coaches strive for, regardless of sex.



Summit's greatest achievement in her storied career was that she was part of women's basketball from almost literally its inception, and was the central figure in putting the sport on the map. Pro baseball was popular before Babe Ruth came along , neither did pro football with Jim Brown, hockey with Wayne Gretzky or basketball with Michael Jordan (get over it, MJ blowhards). What Summit did for women's  basketball is more comparable to what Red Grange did for football.


Before "The Galloping Ghost", pro football wasn't on the map. But the iconic Chicago Bears owner, George Halas, brought the Illinois hero to the professional game by signing him for the Bears. Crowds got bigger and so did the money. Grange was far from the greatest running back in history, but he was the pioneer of pioneers as far as pro football goes. The difference between Pat Summit and Red Grange is that Grange's statistics and accomplishments grow less and less impressive as the year's go by. Pat Summit will not have that happen to her.

Sure, her eight national title wins have been eclipsed by Uconn's Geno Auriemma. But it could be quite a while before any other women's coach gets to 8. Geno might eventually eclipse Pat's win total, but again, nobody else will. In short, the top 3 women's basketball coaches of all time ever shall be

Geno Auriemma
 Pat Summit
Somebody else.

Now some people reading this could feel that I'm overstating the popularity of woman's basketball. All I can say in return is that you should have been at the women's  NCAA Tournament at the Petersen Events Center in 2007 (naturally, they won the title that year; Summit's 7th). I was there, and so was Tennessee. Believe me, the Lady Vols are a big deal. There was orange everywhere, and they were loud. I don't know how the fans of the Lady Vols are in Knoxville nowadays, as Summit is gone and, for now, so are the championships. But at least when UT was at its peak, it's fair to say that, next to Phil Fulmer's football team, the Lady Vols were the biggest thing there was.



Sure, women's basketball may not have near the popularity of the major male college sports, but it is a hell of a lot better than it would be had Pat Summit never coached a game. Summit was the one figure in women's basketball that every sports fan knew of. She transcended her sport, and that is something special. But as much as she did on the court and for her players off the court, she still had something greater yet to show; courage.


I know first hand how horrible Alzheimer's disease is. My grandmother passed away after a 5 year battle with the disease in December of 2012. So, when Summit decided to keep on coaching after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in August of 2011, it was nothing less than astonishing. Summit soon retired, but she had nothing left to prove. Because of her, a little more exposure has been added to a horrible condition, and that means more than winning basketball games.

As tough as it is for the Summit family that the legend is gone, I'm sure they are relieved to see the dementia die along with Pat. If you have ever had to deal in any way with Alzheimers, you know how it feels. If you haven't... consider yourself lucky. It is a monster that needs to be taken down, and hopefully Pat Summit's battle will help conquer the beast around the world.

Rest easy Pat. The nightmares of dementia are behind you. You are in heaven what you were on earth; a winner.