It’s really sad when legends die, and Pat Summitt was a legend. She was about my age. She built her sport from the ground up. She was really the mother of womens’ basketball. Gene Auriemma has eclipsed her records, but he has done so by standing on her shoulders.
She was the John Wooden of the woman’s game.
Amazing woman, amazing coach.
Plus like an 84% winning record. 3rd best of women’s coaches per wiki, and better than any men’s coach. Though I’ll give the men’s coaches a little credit for probably having a little more competition.
RIP Pat. You were truly one of the ‘greats’. Thanks for the ride!
Today the world lost one of the greats. She defined champion.
Pat was a living legend here in Knoxville, and in Tennessee.
What a lot of people forget is that she was largely responsible for women being allowed to play full-court basketball, just like the men.
When she started coaching, women were still playing half-court, and Pat thought that was both stupid and demeaning.
So she got it changed.
There was talk of “promoting” her to coaching the men’s team—and Pat said that was not a promotion at all.
She will be sorely missed.
If you knew ANYTHING about college basketball, whether it’s men’s or women’s we’re talking about, you knew about Pat Summitt.
I’m not sure how many also knew Summitt was a brilliant and in-demand speaker during her reign as one of basketball’s greatest coaches. In the late 90’s she was invited to speak at a medical convention in Devner I attended. A couple of colleagues of mine and I, although skeptical the value of a basketball coach’s lecture and discussion for us, signed up for her presentation.
Long story short, it was one of the most memorable presentations I’ve ever attended. She was sharp, focused and her motivational skills were, obviously, beyond reproach. I was very, very impressed. I’ll never forget glancing around the auditorium and seeing that everyone was leaning forward to hear every word. She commanded that room as she did the basketball court.
…and skanks like $ister$arah/MicheleBachmann still walk among us. So sorry for the loss to our country.