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
I've talked to her about our team. (I talked to her) when I wasn't really happy with them and she's talked to me about her team and we probably figured we'd see each other in the end.
There is not that many players that really can take over games, signed Candace Parker, I really felt like at that time that a National Championship was certainly in reach.
I really felt like we had to have a go to player.
I thought it was a game where we developed a lot of character from beginning to end. We were very nervous offensively, but it didn't affect how we played on the defensive end, fortunately.
They know as a team they have to get better. We've been talking about this now for four games going into the Duke game as a staff and just basically trying to send out a warning signal to this team.
I haven't ever really had a goal to break that record or catch John Wooden.
The ladies had great energy today. The communication was key, and I could definitely see an improvement in their physical condition. They had an incredible off-season in the weight room.
As a great long-range shooter, she has drawn the best defender, usually the most athletic, sometimes players with a lot of size. In essence, with her ability to shoot the ball the way she can, she has become a target for every team we play.
It was a hard-fought game, not necessary well-executed. For the most part I felt like we did what we had to do.
She reached out at a time that meant a lot to me.
And we talked Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday ... we talk all the time. But did we talk about playing each other? No, because we had a different agenda.
I think the only thing that I really thought about, I am always every year thinking about how I can get better, how my stuff can get better, how our team can improve.
I am about helping each and every student athlete that selects to wear the orange, you know, be successful at Tennessee individually and as a team. That type of record is certainly not anything that I have aspirations to reach.
I never ask Candace Parker if she was thinking about leaving because I never had any reason to believe she would. I just kept the focus on the team and on Candace and the role she played for us.