Pat Summitt is clearly the top women’s basketball coach in the SEC today -- and all-time. She is also the consensus choice for greatest coach in all of women’s basketball. And when you look at how Coach Summitt's numbers stack up historically, it is easy to make the case that she is the greatest women’s basketball coach of all time. And, perhaps, simply the Best Coach Ever.
Thanks to Tennpenny Imaging for this graphic.
Born Patricia Sue Head on June 14, 1952, Pat Summitt attended the University of Tennessee-Martin, where she starred on the women’s basketball team. During her tenure, she was named an All-American and was named co-captain of the silver medal-winning 1976 Olympic basketball team.
After her senior season was cut short prematurely as a result of an ACL tear, Pat Summitt was named head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers in 1974. She was 22 years old at the time. 4 of her players in that first season were 21.
After an inauspicious beginning (an 84-83 loss to Mercer College), Summitt led the Lady Vols to a 16-8 mark in her inaugural season as Head Coach. However, she quickly elevated the team to farther reaching heights, leading the Lady Vols to the NCAA Final Four in only her 3rd season, following a 28-5 campaign in 1976-77. That season kicked off a 10 year run that included 7 Final Four appearances and which culminated, in 1986-1987, with the Lady Vols first National Championship under Head Coach Pat Summitt.
Summitt went on to lead the Lady Vols to National Championships in 2 of the following 4 seasons, including 1988, a season in which the Lady Vols went a remarkable 35-2 overall. The apex of the Summitt tenure came in 1995-1998 when she led the Lady Vols to 3 consecutive National Championships, the third coming on the heels of an unbeaten 39-0 1997-98 campaign.
Since that stretch, Summitt’s squads have been regular entrants to the Final Four, and most recently, in 2007-08, won their 8th National Championship in the Summitt era (and second straight). This is more National Championships than any other women's college basketball coach in history. Summit also has led the Vols to more consecutive Sweet 16 appearances (27) and more trips to the Final Four (18) than any women's basketball coach – ever!
You probably heard about Pat Summitt dressing up last year as a UT cheerleader before the Tennessee - Florida Men's basketball game. Well, here's the video:
All told, during the Summitt era, the Lady Vols have won 14 Southeastern Conference regular season championships, and 13 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championships. She holds a career mark (through the 2007 – 2008 season) of 983-182 (most wins of any coach Men's or Women's B-ball in history), and has never had a losing season in her 34 years of coaching. She has won 30+ games 17 times in her career, including her last 6 seasons in a row, 10 of her last 11 seasons, and 13 of the last 16 seasons.
A number of honors have been bestowed upon Pat Summitt in recognition of her storied coaching career. For one, she has had the court named for her at both the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she has spent her entire coaching career, as well as at the University of Tennessee-Martin, where she played. To date, she is the only individual for whom two NCAA Division I basketball courts have been named.
Summitt was a member of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, and was inducted in to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
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