Friday, April 20, 2012

All-In Person of the Week: Pat Summit

"My parents taught me a long time ago that you win in life with people. And that's important, because if you hang with winners, you stand a great chance of being a winner."  No one in college sports knows more about winning than Coach Pat Summit. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball--male or female.

She won eight national championships as the women's head coach at the University of Tennessee, 16 regular-season Southeastern Conference championships and 16 SEC tournament titles.

During her tenure as Head Coach, Tennessee never failed to reach the NCAA tournament, never received a seed lower than No. 5. Her teams reached the Final Four 18 times, which ties the UCLA and North Carolina men for the most all-time by a college basketball program.

Coach Summit never had a season with a losing record. Her teams won1,098 games and lost 208 for an impressive .840 average. Coach Summit knows about winning. She has surrounded herself with winners on her teams, and her teams have won big.

After 38 years as the Head Coach, this week Coach Summit became the team's Head Coach Emeritus. Later this year, she will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Coach Summit revealed last summer that she had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She has shown the same determination, attitude, and grace regarding her health as she has shown regarding the impact she's had on women's athletics.

Congratulations to Coach Pat Summit for being All-In on and off the basketball court.

(Sources: ESPN and UTladyvols.com)

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