Pat Summitt (1952-2016) was a tough-love women’s basketball coach with a nearly spotless track record. When she retired, she had the most career wins in college basketball history.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s Olympian was a tough-love women’s basketball coach with a nearly spotless track record. She never missed a single NCAA Tournament. She never coached a losing season. And when she retired, she had the most career wins in college basketball history.
Today, we’re talking about Pat Summitt.
Pat was born Patricia Sue Head on June 14, 1952. She grew up on a farm in Clarksville, Tennessee. Patricia was the fourth of five children, and spent her days helping her father and older brothers with chores, from baling hay to chopping tobacco. She developed a sense of rugged determination and hardiness that would serve her well on the basketball court. .Years later, she would recall her father’s motto as inspiration: “Cows don’t take a day off.”
Pat started playing basketball as a kid with her brothers, and continued that passion throughout school. She transferred her intensity to the court: according to some stories, she dribbled basketballs so hard, she flattened her rings.
Pat attended the University of Tennessee, and graduated in 1974. That same year, she was appointed head coach of the women’s basketball team, the Lady Vols. At just 22 years old, she was barely older than her players.
Pat’s team was underfunded, relatively inexperienced, and coming up in a world where few opportunities existed for women’s sports. Title IX had just passed two years earlier, in 1972, but the NCAA wouldn’t sponsor women’s basketball for another decade
Pat washed the team’s uniforms and drove the team’s van. In one instance, theirbudget couldn’t even stretch for a hotel room -- so Pat and her players slept on mats in the opposing team’s gym.
Pat’s second season with the Lady Vols was busy, to say the least. She was simultaneously earning a master’s degree in physical education and training as a player for the 1976 women’s Olympic basketball team. The Olympic team, which Pat co-captained,took home the silver, and the Lady Vols set a record for number of wins. From that season on, the team would win at least 20 games each season. It was an unbroken streak that would continue until Pat’s retirement.
Pat also coached winning teams in the 1979 World Championships and Pan American Games, and led the US Olympic team to a gold medal -- this time as a coach -- in 1984.
In 1986, the Lady Vols took home their first national title. And throughout the 90s, Pat and her Lady Vols continued to dominate: the team included the likes of Chamique Holdsclaw and Candace Parker. They finished their ‘98 season 39 to 0, setting the record for most women’s team wins in a single season.
Pat, who had started coaching for just 250 dollars a month, was now making over a million dollars each year.
Her dedication to the sport was remarkable. Her water broke while she was scouting players in 1990: not only did she finish the job, but she held on and asked pilots to fly her back to have her baby in Tennessee.
Pat won her eighth, and final, national title in 2008. The following year, the Lady Vols suffered a shocking loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And during the 2010 season, Pat started to realize she was having a hard time remembering details of games as they happened live. She was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers.
Pat retired after the 2012 season. She’d coached 38 seasons, and led her team to 1,098 victories. In 2011, Pat started a foundation for Alzheimer’s research. In 2012, she was honored by President Barack Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Pat passed away on June 28, 2016. She was 64 years old.
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Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!