Pat Summitt, winningest coach in D1 history, has died at 64

A role model for generations of coaches, Summitt inspired William-Flournoy.

She did all of it and in the process earned the respect and admiration of every single person who knew the name Pat Summitt. They took sideline seats, and when there was a break in the game, I walked down and asked Renae to introduce me.

She forever changed the history of Basketball coaching/playing by a woman during the height of her career in the mid-1970’s, USA Today reported. Or maybe going all in on top-level women’s hoops would be a way for Division II HBCU schools to stand out while a successful Division II program in Kansas, such as Fort Hays State or Emporia State, might be able to capitalize on being in a basketball mad region with a lot of talent coming out of in-state high schools and junior colleges.

“Without Pat Summitt, women we would be stuck somewhere else”, she said.

But beyond these deeds, Summitt was remembered more as a simple person who had touched many lives.

“We learned about what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to be a great woman, what it takes to be a great lady, what it takes to have character, what it takes to have poise”, said former Lady Vol and WNBA star Tamika Catchings in 2013.

“I was blessed to have the opportunity to have such an unbelievable role model and such an fantastic mentor, sister and friend”, she added.

“It was unbelievable to have the opportunity to go against such a great coach”, she recalls. Six years into its existence, Summitt won her first title in 1987 – she was off and running. “Those eyes of hers danced, and she really let him have it”.

Catchings went with her mom to see Summit toward the end of past year. Sadly, it’s in her passing that I find myself appreciating all that she meant. Instead, she welcomed an interview with a reporter she didn’t know and tried to make me feel comfortable.

Basketballs, orange and white balloons and flowers were left in front of her statue on Tennessee’s campus Tuesday.

President Obama and former players have praised her for her courage on and off the court.

Before Geno Auriemma copied Summit’s blueprint at CT and created the “second” dynasty in women’s basketball history, Summit was the Queen of the college basketball scene and provided the blood that pumped through the veins of every female player with goals and aspirations of taking their game to the next level. Anybody that loves the game of basketball owes a debt of gratitude to her.

Summitt basically ended the unnamed player’s recruiting process. She built the sport of women’s basketball.

She continued her career at UT-Martin and her Senior season tore the ACL in her knee. Before then, Heard and her parents once hosted Summitt in their Louisville home while Heard was being recruited during her high school days at Atherton High School in Louisville.”Everyone knew who Tennessee was and as a little girl, you dreamed of playing college basketball at that level”, Wandersee said.”She’s the reason that female athletes get scholarships”.

In 1999, Summitt was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. “That’s when the UConn-Tennessee rivalry took its form”. It is impossible to overstate the impact Pat Summitt had on not just women’s basketball, but the sports world in general.

Summitt, who in 38 years with Tennessee won 1,098 games and eight national titles, was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2011 at age 59.

Because of Pat Summitt, the Boilermakers snap the Lady Vols’ 46-game winning streak in 1998 before a crowd of 11,768 at Mackey Arena.