It seems more than appropriate to talk about the woman that all of college sports is talking about right now. Pat Summitt. The Naismith Coach of the Century. The coach who has won more games than any other college coach. The only woman on Sporting News' 50 Greatest Coaches of all time. Pat Summitt has won more NCAA basketball games than any other coach in any division, including both men and women, and is one of only three college coaches overall (in any sport) to win more than 1,000 games. She has never had a losing season. Pat Summit wins. It's what she does. And the whole basketball world wants to know if she will make it back to the University of Tennessee to coach another year. Last year, Pat Summitt released the sad news that she is struggling with early onset Alzheimer's. Few people know how this has affected her coaching overall, yet ESPN has taken the liberty to speculate wildly during the recent televised playoffs. Then again, ESPN has never been known for its compassion. Pat Summitt is a legend. She has the legendary stories to go right along with the moniker. Stories of washing the team's uniforms herself and driving the van to away games. That was back in the day, of course. Back in the day when women's basketball was in its infancy. Back in the day when women's basketball wasn't even a NCAA sanctioned sport. Of course, Pat was just padding her numbers back then :) You don't become the coach who has won more than anybody else without a little sweat and grit and hard work. You don't create a formidable dynasty of basketball in a year or two. Pat Summitt is women's basketball. She had a hand in making the game what it is today. She was the one pushing for a full-on sport that used the whole court, not just half, that played with five players instead of six. She helped the University of Tennessee manage the funding of women's sports by working together with the then more-profitable men's teams. She was asked twice by Tennessee to coach their men's team, but she has stayed with the Lady Vols throughout her career. Pat Summitt cares about her team. 45 of her players have gone on to become head coaches. Every single one of her players has received a degree. Pat Summitt was the first female coach to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine, and one of very few women who grace its cover sans a swimsuit. There is so much more to Pat Summitt than I could ever cover one short blog post. Her webpage is here: http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/summitt_pat00.html A link to her foundation is here : http://patsummitt.org/ You can follow her on twitter if you wish. @patsummitt Lend your own spirit to the multitudes who pray for her return to the court next year. This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
2 Comments
|
DawnWomen's history geek, mom, lesbian, theologian, dreamer. Archives
February 2016
Categories
All
|