Tag: Ole

The impact of Pat Head Summitt, professionally and personally, for former Ole Miss players, coaches, and staff is significant. 
 
A former college player and head coach of women’s basketball, Summitt was the winningest coach in college basketball (1,098 victories) after she coached her final game on April 18, 2012. 
 
She played basketball at the University of Tennessee-Martin from 1970-74, when the return of women’s college basketball nationally was in its infancy. At the age of 22, she was named head coach of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville women’s basketball program prior to the 1974-75 season. For almost four decades, Summitt and her teams were the standard for women’s college basketball.
 
In her years at Tennessee, the Lady Vols won eight NCAA championships, as well as 16 Southeastern Conference regular season titles and another 16 SEC Tournament crowns. Players and coaches throughout the SEC and the nation watched with respect. Some of them actually competed on the basketball courts against UT and its legendary leader, who passed away on June 28, 2016 at age 64.
 
Three former Ole Miss players, who were Rebel teammates, became head coaches at current Southeastern Conference schools. They had competed against Summitt when they were players and later as coaches.
 
“The game of women’s basketball still today is Pat Head Summitt,” said Carol Ross, an Ole Miss player from 1977-81 and later head coach of both the Florida Gators (1990-2002) and the Ole Miss Rebels (2003-07). “She was the architect for what we know as women’s basketball then and today. More importantly than the blueprint for building and running a program, it was the integrity and generosity in which she did so. Pat put the game before her program. Not sure if many would do the same.”
 
Renee Ladner was a teammate of Ross at Ole Miss. She served as an assistant coach at Florida and Ole Miss before becoming head coach at Ole Miss from 2007-12.
 
“Coach Summitt is known to most for her record-setting number of wins and championships,” Ladner said. “Pat’s lasting legacy to me is where she started in the infant stage of women’s basketball and how SHE grew our sport to what it is today. We are here in so many ways because of Pat’s efforts and influence in the game as we know it today.”
 
Ladner pointed out Summitt’s willingness to share her knowledge and experiences with other coaches in the league and across the country.
 
“As a young college athlete and high school coach, I had no idea what Coach Summitt would come to mean to me and our sport. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Pat was the G.O.A.T.! I wanted to emulate her teams, her grit and her style of coaching. I hung on every word when she spoke on her lessons in life. I knew Pat was a special person and coach. Pat was a fierce competitor, but wanted us all to succeed. Pat was gracious, approachable and shared tips to help your team. I feel honored to have worked beside her in the SEC.” 
 
Peggie Gillom-Granderson, also an Ole Miss teammate of Ross and Ladner, was an assistant coach with the Rebels two different times and was the head coach of Texas A&M women’s basketball from 1998-2003.
 
“One of Coach Summitt’s lasting legacies to the game is the fact that the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Knoxville, Tenn., a place where women’s basketball came to be so recognized,” she said. “She really set the stage for the exposure of the game of women’s basketball.”
 
Gillom-Granderson shared a very personal moment for her and her family, one when her sister, Jennifer Gillom who played at Ole Miss, was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
“After the ceremony, Coach Summitt invited our whole family – 15 to 20 of us – to her home. She was someone who shared with other people. I was always in awe of the great Pat Summitt as a coach, but even more in awe of her as a normal, kind, and affectionate person.”
 
The former college head coaches shared some thoughts on what younger coaches and current players should know about Summitt.
 
“No shortcuts with Pat,” Ross said. “Love your players. Respect the profession. Communicate directly and fairly. Compete for everything. Expect nothing to be given. Try to walk in someone else’s shoes. In all you do, do so with integrity.”
 
“Young coaches and players should have tremendous gratitude and appreciation for Pat’s work ethic, her lifelong dedication and her influence on women’s sports,” Ladner said. “Without Pat, none of us may have had the vast opportunities we have today with scholarships, journalism/broadcasting, administrators, female head coaches, and the list goes on and on. We are because of her. It started with Pat and we should never forget it.”
 
“Coach Summitt not only wanted Tennessee to be successful but the game of women’s basketball as well,” Gillom-Granderson said. “What she did helped elevate all of us. She embraced excellence and people who exhibited excellence.”
 
The way Pat Head Summitt approached and lived her last years was extraordinary, Ross pointed out, as well as their friendship through the years.
 
“Look at how Pat handled the greatest adversity in her life – a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s at the apex of her historic career,” Ross said. “She did so honestly, with a gameplan, as a fierce competitor and with integrity. Exactly the way she moved through her coaching career, as the greatest coach in women’s basketball.
 
“Pat meant many things to me,” Ross continued. “Adversary, competitor, role model, but mostly beach neighbor and friend. November through March we competed in the SEC. Most of the other months we fought for recruits, but there was a little window which we spent in Florida on (state road) 30A doing beach things. Those were great times…a cold drink, toes in the sand, lots of laughs, opinions on issues of the game and some really good food. Pat was a great cook and enjoyed entertaining. I really miss those days. I miss her.”

Ole Miss women’s basketball will celebrate Coach Summitt’s legacy at its annual We Back Pat game against Texas on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 2:00 p.m. CT.