Women's History Wednesday Profile: Pat Summitt

There are a number of ways that one can choose to honor the late Pat Summitt. One can describe the road to her eighth National Championship titles. One can announce the over 1,000 wins she accumulated over a four decade coaching career. She can be measured in the Olympic medals she has won, or the medals and WNBA titles her former players have amassed. However, those are material things, and things one can easily Google. When a being like Pat Summitt leaves this earth, there is no shortage of “stuff”, of “things”. However, one should not measure Summitt by those temporary things. Ribbons of medals will tear, trophies will lose their luster. Records will be broken and banners will collect dust. Buildings will fall, or be renamed and statutes will stand long after one’s heroics are remembered.

It is not the things that hold the value, it is the memories associated with the things, with the people that makes Pat Summitt more than a coach. It is the memories that make her a legend, that make her a hero, that make her a loving mother and citizen of this world. As the country, the world reflect on Pat Summitt, it is Coach Summitt’s own voice that echoes in the hearts and memories of her family, friends and her players.

Outside of her son Ross Tyler Summitt, there is one number Pat was most proud of; 161. She ushered 161 young female athletes into the game of basketball and the game of life.

From Her Players

WNBA champion and Olympic medalist Tamika Catchings once said, “she’s way more than a basketball coach to me,” referring to Pat Summitt in an interview for the WNBA tribute to Summitt, “she’s not only concerned about what we do on the basketball court, but even more importantly, she concerned about what we do in the community, she’s concerned about what kind of woman we turn out to be, she’s concerned about how we represent ourselves. There’s so much more outside of basketball that Pat was concerned about.”

In Memoriam: Pat Summitt (WNBA/YouTube)

Catching announced she will retire after this WNBA season. As part of her regular season, Catching is hosting a “Farewell Tour”. At each stop, Catchings finds time to interact with fans and give back to the community surrounding the WNBA team she is set to play. Although Catchings has officially named the remainder of her tour in honor of Coach Summitt, the connection of their shared legacy, the one nurtured and polished at Tennessee, was already there.

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Former WNBA star and UT player Chamique Holdsclaw shared her thoughts on the passing of Coach Summitt through the Associated Press. In her statement, Holdsclaw pens, “She was something like a superhero to me. In the face of adversity she never showed weakness, she never backed down. Even up until these final days, she lived up to her promise to me and I'm sure to so many others.” For Holdsclaw, that promise comprised of three things, that she would graduate, that she would always have a sisterhood at UT, and that Summitt herself would always be there. As Holdsclaw noted, this was a promise she kept for other as well. Every player that completed her eligibility for Coach Summitt also graduated; Summitt left a 38-year coaching career with a 100% graduation rate.

Pat Summitt and Holdsclaw share a moment on bench (Mark Humphrey/AP Photo)

Summitt worked with the Washington Mystics organization while Holdsclaw was a player there. Summitt served as the player personnel consultant, assisting players like Holdsclaw adjust on and off the court. During her time with Washington, D.C, Summitt was supportive as Holdsclaw battled depression privately, and then very publicly. When Chamique stepped away from the game and others left her side, Pat was still there.

Therefore, it should be no surprise that Chamique returned the favor, “I went to Knoxville this weekend with a heavy heart. I had received word that coach Summitt's health was declining rapidly. I did not know how I would feel when I saw her … If anyone could pull out a miracle it would be coach Summitt. But the miracle was her life and her legacy. Her incredible journey and the lives that she touched on and off the court. Her impact on the world is far greater than the game of basketball. She will forever and always be my superhero.”

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On Tuesday night, Candace Parker wrote “rebound’ on her orange basketball sneakers. In a post-game interview with Holly Rowe of ESPN, Parker was asked about what her mentality was as she racked up a season-high 13 rebounds, “(laughs) I see coaches glare, and I hear her voice screaming at me to rebound, especially on the offensive end. I see her little head (shakes head) going back and forth, telling me to rebound. So, it’s very ironic that I season high rebounding tonight.” As Rowe wraps the interview, she tells Parker that Coach Summitt would be proud of her, Parker takes this in, thanks Rowe, and embraces her for a few moments before running back to the locker room with her daughter. Parker also shared a handwritten letter from Summitt on her Twitter account.

Post-Game Sparks Candace Parker (WNBA/YouTube/ESPN)

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Parker was not the only player who saved a special note from Coach Summitt. In an article by Sally Jenkins, she shares a letter Coach Summitt wrote to former player Shelia Collins on the day of her first game Freshman year. To Sally, to Shelia, and to me, this letter is why the legacy of Pat Summitt will live on. As Sally did, I will close with these words from Pat to Shelia, and to all of us today.

The letter is dated November 22, 1982:

Shelia, This is your first game. I hope you win for your sake, not mine. Because winning’s nice. It’s a good feeling. Like the whole world is yours. But it passes, this feeling. And what lasts is what you’ve learned. And what you’ve learned about is — life. That’s what sport is all about — life!

The whole thing is played out in an afternoon. The happiness of life, the miseries, the joys, the heartbreaks. There’s no telling what will turn up. There’s no telling how you’ll do. You might be a hero. Or you might be absolutely nothing.

There’s just no telling. Too much depends on chance, on how the ball bounces.

I’m not talking about the game. I’m talking about life. But it’s life that the game is all about. Just as I said, every game is life, and life is a game. A serious one. Dead serious. But here’s what you do with serious things. You do your best. You take what comes.

You take what comes and you run with it.

Winning is fun . . . Sure.

But winning is not the point.

Wanting to win is the point.

Not giving up is the point.

Never letting up is the point.

Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point.

The game is never over. No matter what the scoreboard reads, or what the referee says, it doesn’t end when you come off the court.

The secret of the game is in doing your best. To persist and endure, ‘to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. (quote from the poem Ulysses by Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson)’

I’m proud to be your Coach,

Pat Head Summitt