Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt
Patricia Sue "Pat" Summittwas an American college basketball head coach whose 1,098 career wins are the most in NCAA basketball history. She served as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012, before retiring at age 59 because of a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. She won eight NCAA championships, a number surpassed only by the 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden and the 11 titles won by UConn...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth14 June 1952
CityClarksville, TN
CountryUnited States of America
They are very familiar with our program and our philosophy, ... but when you have been in the game as long as I have and been on television as much as we have, I think everyone knows pretty much every move we make.
A lot of this tournament is about where you play and not who you play.
I'm really proud of what this team has accomplished this year. They have faced tremendous adversity and come through it. They have great character and have been a great group to coach.
I think overall Candace had a solid game, ... I was pleased with her defense.
I didn't feel calm out there. When I looked at the schedule, I thought 'What have I done?
She was tough. She's a freshman, but I thought she played more like a veteran tonight.
It's awesome to see where she is now. Even for me as a coach, it's hard to believe how much better she is coming off screens, creating her own shot and scoring in transition.
Management wanted to go into a different direction.
It's been amazing this year. We've had fans everywhere we've been on the road.
Our philosophy has always been you better pack your defense and your board work on the road. Because those ugly nights and those poor shooting nights you just have to grind games out. Today, we just had to grind it out.
Our team responded coming out of halftime. I never even imagined coaching 900 games and it is just wonderful.
First was our lack of commitment to making stops on the defensive end. I think they (UT players) had another lesson handed to them on defense.
Actually, when I saw it in USA Today, I just, Candace Parker was, we were warming up in practice and she was underneath the basket shooting and I just said, 'Hey Candace! I enjoyed what I read in the paper today about your decision [to stay].' She just started laughing and I did too. So I haven't discussed it with her.
You're going to have a huge audience in Thompson-Boling (Arena), plus national television coverage. It's a big game, and yet a lot of people say, 'Is the rivalry still what it used to be?' I don't think it's going to be any different. Both teams are going to be excited to play.