There aren’t many coaches who know winning like Pat Summitt.
In the rarefied air of all-time wins (men’s and women’s), the University of Tennessee coach leads the pack with more than 1,089 victories, and is followed by Duke University men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski, former Indiana University and Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight, and former University of Texas women’s coach Jody Conradt.
Conradt won 900 games in 38 seasons as a coach, including 31 at Texas. On the 25th anniversary of the year Tennessee won its first national championship, which was in Austin, Texas, Conradt recently took time to reminisce about Summitt and the team that helped the school win its first of a record eight national titles.
“I don’t think anybody could have predicted they would go on to be as dominant as they have been in the women’s game,” Conradt said.
Summitt and No. 13 Tennessee (18-7, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) will visit Starkville at 8 tonight (CSS) to take on Mississippi State (14-11, 4-8) at Humphrey Coliseum.
There’s no telling how much longer Summitt, who is in her 38th season as head coach, will lead the Lady Volunteers. The answer to that question likely is on the minds of many, especially since last August when Summitt announced doctors at the Mayo Clinic had diagnosed her with early onset dementia, “Alzheimer’s Type.”
Conradt isn’t sure how long Summitt will coach, but she said Summitt continues to be a “driving force” for women’s basketball. The outpouring of support for Summitt, as evidenced in part through the “We Back Pat” campaign, shows how much Summitt has done for women’s basketball players and the sport.
Conradt also said the success Summitt had at Tennessee in her early years set the stage for the rest of the Southeastern Conference to emerge as such a great league because all of the schools wanted to emulate the success of the Lady Volunteers. That success, she said, carried over to other sports fans, and even people who didn’t pay attention to sports.
“If you ask somebody on the street who were the good programs in women’s basketball just about anybody in this country might name Tennessee or they might name UConn if they had not watched a game,” Conradt said.
In 1986, Conradt’s Texas team went 34-0 and became the first program to win an NCAA tournament without losing a game. At that time, Texas, Louisiana Tech, Southern California, and Old Dominion were the elite in a sport that was transitioning from the AIAW to the NCAA.
Even though Tennessee was a national runner-up and reached the Final Four twice from 1982-86, Conradt knew it was a matter of time before Summitt and the Lady Volunteers broke through and won a title. What has happened since then, though, is another story. Conradt said Summitt’s success at Tennessee came at a time when women’s basketball was just starting to grow. She said there were pockets of huge interest and that Summitt was able to use the support of her administration to “really shine the light on women’s sports.”
Today, Summitt’s success and the role she has played in attracting interest in women’s basketball has resulted in increased television exposure and parity throughout the nation.
“All of the things at that time made young people say, ‘I want to be a part of that,’ ” Conradt said. “Tennessee was able to capitalize on that, as UConn has done lately. (Connecticut is second with five national championships.) Good players want to join other good players, and it amazing how (the growth of Tennessee’s program) has happened. I would say those teams that played in the 1987 Final Four (Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana Tech, and Long Beach State) could compete and probably be just as successful as they were then. The players were just as talented at that point in time, but there were not as many talented players as there are today. But the level of play has not passed what the really elite teams were able to accomplish.”
And while UConn has closed the gap on Tennessee in recent years, no other program has maintained a level of excellence like the Lady Volunteers. Tennessee went on to win national titles in 1989, 1991, ’96, ’97, ’98, 2007, and ’08. This year, Tennessee (18-7) is in second place in the SEC, one game behind No. 7 University of Kentucky after a 91-54 victory against the Wildcats on Monday in Knoxville, Tenn. The scrutiny of Summitt and Tennessee also has intensified since Summitt’s announcement in August. In October, Summitt and associate head coach Holly Warlick were surrounded by members of the media for the entire session and inundated with questions. Both coaches answered all of the questions and held up admirably under the glare of the spotlights.
It shouldn’t be surprising, though, because Summitt’s teams have prided themselves on taking on any challenge. In making her condition public, Summitt wanted to call attention to Alzheimer’s and to help raise money to help find a cure. She has invested in that fight much like she built her program on blue-collar aspects like rebounding, and defense. Conradt credits Summitt for imprinting her personality on so many teams and for being able to motivate so many players, whether they were McDonald’s All-Americans or role players. If you have any doubt about Summitt’s ability to coach and to motivate at a high level, just consider the what the Lady Volunteers did to the Wildcats, who had only one loss entering the game and remain first in the SEC standings.
Conradt isn’t surprised because she knows the Tennessee players are an extension of Summitt on the floor.
“Her teams have always been strong and hard working, which means they have asserted themselves defensively and rebounding,” Conradt said. “Pat always had outstanding defensive teams that wear you out on the boards. She is somebody who has set the bar that everybody strives to reach, and Tennessee has set that bar for a long period of time.”
Debbie Antonelli, who is in her 24th year as a broadcaster of women’s basketball, said Tennessee built its pedigree on being physically and mentally stronger than opponents. She said that mentality made the “Tennessee” name on the jersey intimidating.
“They were going to wear you out,” said Antonelli, who played against Tennessee when she was at North Carolina State. “When you played them you couldn’t even run plays to get to the wing. They were not going to let you get it. When they were at their best, that’s what they were doing.”
Years later, toughness remains a word Antonelli associates with Summitt. Another is icon. Both say volumes about what Summitt has done on and off the court.
“I think she is an iconic brand, and her name and Tennessee speak for themselves,” Antonelli said. “I think the Lady Volunteers became the benchmark and the measuring stick that everybody aspired to become. Everyone wants to win and she was winning, so people asked how was she doing it and they tried to figure it out so they could win. I think people started pointing to the way she went about it. Today, she still represents the same things.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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