# Pat Summit - winningest coach in history died. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 28, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632 "2016-06-28T15:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/1 "2016-06-28T15:42:59Z")
Incredible coach with a record that will never be equaled. She absolutely dominated the women’s basketball game her entire career. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. Her teams got me interesting in watching the women’s league. She just retired in 2012. RIP Pat > **[Pat Summitt, legendary women's basketball coach, dies at 64 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/us/pat-summitt-obit/index.html)** > > Pat Summitt, who built the University of Tennessee's Lady Volunteers into a perennial power on the way to becoming the winningest coach in the history of major college basketball, died Tuesday. [QUOTE] In her 38 years at Tennessee, Summitt won eight national titles and 1,098 games – the most by any Division 1 basketball coach, male or female. Her teams made an unprecedented 31 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament./QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/2 "2016-06-28T16:17:03Z")
Not to besmirch her record and her talents, but women’s NCAA basketball has no parity. The same schools win year after year, upsets in the tourney are virtually unheard of. So if you’re in the elite caste, you’re going to win a lot of games. But to her credit, she did something right to join the elite caste. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/3 "2016-06-28T16:27:15Z")
Pat Summitt was absolutely one of the greatest basketball coaches ever. It was so sad to hear of her retirement and diagnosis and now to hear of her death at just 64 years old. RIP Coach Summitt. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/4 "2016-06-28T16:28:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Not to besmirch her record and her talents Oh but then you’ll spend the rest of your post doing just that, eh? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/5 "2016-06-28T16:33:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Oh but then you’ll spend the rest of your post doing just that, eh? I don’t know this Coach from Eve, but I think it’s fair to point out caveats to a record while still admitting you admire the woman. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/6 "2016-06-28T16:42:07Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I don’t know this Coach from Eve, but I think it’s fair to point out **caveats** to a record while still admitting you admire the woman. (boding mine) I don’t think that word means what you think it means. And I don’t think **BobLibDem** did anything other than say “her achievements aren’t so great but she did coach for years at that school”. He spent the first 3 of 4 sentences slamming Coach Summitt, her school, the league and all her competitors. He basically said “Yeah, women’s basketball isn’t anything worth paying attention to. Coach Summitt sure was part of it tho.” And he’s wrong. Coach Summitt was absolutely one of the greatest basketball coaches ever. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/7 "2016-06-28T17:03:25Z")
And, if you’re even going to go there, at least get your nomenclatures correct: Pat Summitt didn’t “join” the elite caste in women’s basketball. She _created_ the elite caste in women’s basketball. Considering the length and breadth of her coaching tree (which includes no fewer than two other coaches who have gone on to coach their own teams to national championships), and some of the WBHOF and Naismith HOF players and coaches to come out of her program, she’s arguably the single most important figure in that sport. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/8 "2016-06-28T17:09:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But to her credit, she did something right to join the elite caste. She assuredly did not “join the elite caste,” because there were no castes at all in women’s basketball when she started. > [@](#): > > When she became head coach of the Lady Vols in 1974 at the age of 22 – barely older than some of her players – the NCAA did not even formally recognize women’s basketball. Summitt had to drive the team van to road games herself. Pat Summit _created_ elite women’s basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/9 "2016-06-28T17:11:21Z")
^ Heh. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/10 "2016-06-28T17:11:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > (boding mine) > > I don’t think that word means what you think it means. [QUOTE=[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caveat](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caveat)] an explanation or warning that should be remembered when you are doing or thinking about something [/QUOTE] I think it’s used correctly. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > And I don’t think **BobLibDem** did anything other than say “her achievements aren’t so great but she did coach for years at that school”. He spent the first 3 of 4 sentences slamming Coach Summitt, her school, the league and all her competitors. He basically said “Yeah, women’s basketball isn’t anything worth paying attention to. Coach Summitt sure was part of it tho.” > > And he’s wrong. Coach Summitt was absolutely one of the greatest basketball coaches ever. I think you are way overreacting to **BobLibDem** ’s post. He pointed out that the competition wasn’t there. He didn’t say she was a bad coach, in fact quite the opposite. When people talk about Mike Tyson or Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, there always healthy debate on “yes, but who were they competing against?” I don’t see why it’s inappropriate to make that point because it’s a NCAAW coach. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/11 "2016-06-28T17:30:17Z")
Peyton Manning gave a nice tribute to Pat. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/tennessee.247sports.com/Bolt/Peyton-Manning-speaks-on-the-passing-of-Pat-Summitt-46011716/Amp?client=ms-android-motorola#](https://www.google.com/amp/s/tennessee.247sports.com/Bolt/Peyton-Manning-speaks-on-the-passing-of-Pat-Summitt-46011716/Amp?client=ms-android-motorola#) I just always appreciated Pat’s friendship and support. I was always impressed with how all of her former players spoke about her. You speak to people like Tamika Catchings or Chamique Holdsclaw, and they just talk about the role that Pat played in all of their lives on and off the court. You can just tell the impact that she had on those players. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/12 "2016-06-28T19:04:55Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > … He pointed out that the competition wasn’t there. But the competition IS there now and Pat Summit is the biggest reason for that. She continued to succeed when the competition caught up with her. All of her players graduated. If nothing else could be said about her, that alone is a noteworthy achievement. She was a great coach, a great teacher, and a great example. She changed women’s athletics. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/13 "2016-06-28T23:00:12Z")
Pat set the bar for Women’s college basketball. The other coaches had to constantly raise their game to compete. Title IX provided women’s athletics the opportunity and coaches like Pat Summitt elevated the sport from intramural to big time college basketball. I would have loved to seen how she would do coaching in the WNBA. I guess Pat felt she made plenty of money at Tennessee and was a decade or so too old to start over in the WNBA. > **[Pat Summitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Summitt)** > > 18× NCAA Regional—Final Four (1982, 1984, 1986–1989, 1991, 1995–1998, 2000, 2002–2008) > 16× SEC Tournament (1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998–2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010–2012) > Patricia Susan Summitt (née Head; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach who acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She served as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team f... > [@](#): > > the Sporting News placed her at number 11 on its list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time in all sports; she was the only woman on the list. In 38 years as a coach, she never had a losing season. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-summit-winningest-coach-in-history-died/758632/14 "2016-06-30T02:47:58Z")
One thing I have not seen mentioned, her teams averaged around 14k attendance. Most men’s teams don’t average that much. The Tenn men also draw about 14k. (their arena seats about 20k)