On Court sits down and talks basketball with coaching legend Pat Summitt

Story & Photos By Dave Ford

It’s never an accident when a milestone comes to fruition. It takes time, planning and consistent execution. For Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, she’s done all of the above, and done them repeatedly for nearly four decades. The 2009-10 season marks her 36th on the bench as the head coach for the Lady Vols. Summitt’s first win came on Jan. 10, 1975, over Middle Tennessee State. Want an interesting fact? There were only 53 people in the stands to see the 22-year-old’s first step toward building a college basketball dynasty. Fifty-three people.

My, how times have changed. Every coach, no matter the sport, has a set of ideals he or she lives by in the pursuit of success. For Summitt, her set is called the Definite Dozen – 12 rules that exemplify the road the Lady Vols have traveled as the most dominant team in both the men’s and women’s game (See The Definite Dozen).

When Summitt talks about the philosophy that has gotten her program where it is today, her words could be mistaken for “coach speak.” But for a person who follows simple but effective ideals day-in and day-out, the former couldn’t be further from the truth. “It’s all about defense and board play and ball security,” she says. “A big part of it is recruiting the type of student-athletes that want to win, and they’re willing to come here and invest.”

“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.” – Pat Summitt

Entering the 2008-09 season, the Lady Vols were two-time defending national champions. But by the time Summitt and her young team were defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, the “Definite Dozen” didn’t seem to apply to, what she called, the most frustrating team she has ever coached. “Last year was a great example. They didn’t know how to win together. They were all individual high school stars and we had a very difficult time getting them to play together.”

Aside from her coaching philosophy, Summitt also pays close attention to a player’s fundamentals. According to her, it’s a crucial detail that has been nearly forgotten about among the men and women who play the game at all levels. “You can look at it in the men’s game and the women’s game – there are so many guys and women out there who don’t work on their game. They just want to play, but they don’t want to invest inbeing the type of skill player that you have to be in order to be successful.”

Consistency is the hallmark of Summitt’s success over the years. Since coming to Tennessee, she’s built a program from the ground up that has finished with a winning record for 35 consecutive seasons, been to all 28 NCAA Tournaments, won 14 Southeastern Conference championships, 13 SEC Tournament titles and eight national championships, including the first three-peat in women’s collegiate basketball history in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

When it comes to looking for the type of players to put on the orange and white, Summitt says the individual must have the same level of drive and hunger for success she has exhibited for her entire career. “Their competitive drive for success … they want to win. That’s why they come here, because we’ve won more than any program in the history of the game. They see it and think, ‘We want to go to Tennessee. We want to win.’ ”

It took 18 years for Summitt to reach her 500th win. On Nov. 21, 1993, the Lady Vols defeated Ohio State by 35 points. This time, more than 18,000 people were on hand.

Summitt has moved past the crossroads of basketball immortality. In the history of the collegiate game, men’s and women’s, Summitt trails only UCLA’s legendary coach John Wooden for the most NCAA titles.

Wooden grabbed 10 titles in 29 years, while Summitt has racked up eight in 35 seasons, including those back-to-back-to-back women’s titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998, to pass Kentucky’s legendary coach, AdolphRupp. Summitt also passed Wooden’s NCAA record for Final Four appearances with her 13th in 2002. She now has 18.

To date, Summitt’s teams have played in and recorded the most NCAA tournament victories, winning 104 of 124 NCAA contests. Wooden’s Bruins played in 57 NCAA games, winning 47 times, while Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers played in 60 NCAA games, claiming 41 victories through the years. Rupp’s Wildcats won 30 games while making 48 appearances in the “Big Dance.”

Wish that I was on ole rocky top,
Down in the Tennessee hills.
Ain’t no smoggy smoke on rocky top,
Ain’t no telephone bills.
Rocky Top

Be ready; be prepared

It is said that a head coach can never be too prepared for a game. Some study their opponents in the final moments leading up to the contest. For Summitt, it’s about having time to herself in order to be mentally prepared to go into battle. It’s a process she’s followed from day one.

“I have to watch film, I have to study the opponent,” she says. “I have to really feel like when I go into the game I have a lot of information. I have to personally watch tape … just me and just try to find some tendencies out there maybe from the best player, best defender – just so when I go in I’ve got all the information that I need. I’ve just gotta feel like I know that team.”

Philosophy. Fundamentals. Consistency. Preparation. Summitt has used all four life skills to lift the Lady Vols basketball program to heights she could never have expected back in the days when she swept the floor, wired the scoreboard and helped sell tickets for a program trying to get off the ground.

More than 1,000 wins later, Summitt still lives by the same creed and expects the same things from her players now as she did then. The milestones have come and gone, as have the players and winning seasons, but Summitt remains the standard for winning as a coach and in life.

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