Summitt graduated from Cheatham County High in Ashland in 1970.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt and her three older brothers
Gallery of Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt as a child
Gallery of Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt as a toddler
College/University
Gallery of Pat Summitt
554 University St, Martin, TN 38237, United States
Summitt attended the University of Tennessee-Martin, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1974.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
In 1975, Pat received a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Career
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1987
Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, watches her team from the sidelines during a game with the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters during the 1987 season.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1987
Bridgette Gordon of the Tennessee Lady Vols covers her face and talks to coach Pat Summitt in the Final Four game against Long Beach State during the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1987.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1991
6801 Franklin Ave, New Orleans, LA 70122, United States
Dena Head listens to instructions from head coach Pat Summitt during the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four Championship game against the University of Virginia Cavaliers on March 31, 1991 at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1994
365 College Rd, Richmond, VA 23173, United States
Pat Summitt watches from the sideline bench during the NCAA Central Fidelity Women's Invitational Tournament college basketball game against the Penn State Lady Lions on December 9, 1994 at the Robins Center Arena in Richmond, Virginia, United States.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1994
650 Biggio Dr, Auburn, AL 36849, United States
Pat Summitt watches from the sideline bench during the NCAA Southeastern Conference women's college basketball game against the Auburn University Tigers on January 6, 1994 at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1996
Pat Summitt watches the action during a game versus UConn.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1997
525 W Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers signals from the sidelines during a game against the Sanford Cardinals at the San Jose Arena (now SAP Center) in San Jose, California.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1997
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Pat Summitt during practice.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1998
1800 Genessee St, Kansas City, MO 64102, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers in action during a playoff game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1999
2098 Hillside Rd, Storrs, CT 06268, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers yells during the game against the UConn Huskies at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2003
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA 30313, United States
Pat Summitt of Tennessee shouts to her team during the NCAA Women's Final Four against Duke at the Georgia Dome on April 6, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2003
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA 30313, United States
Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers cheers on her team's effort during the NCAA Women's Championship game against the University of Connecticut Huskies at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2005
100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Pat Summitt talks to Shanna Zolman of the Tennessee Lady Vols during a break in the action against the Michigan State Spartans in the Semifinal game of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2005
100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Pat Summitt, assistant coaches Dean Lockwood, Holly Warlick and Nikki Caldwell of the Tennessee Lady Vols react to a play in the Semifinal game of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship against the Michigan State Spartans on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2007
1, Center Court, Cleveland, OH 44115, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates after cutting down the net after Tennessee's 59-46 win against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to win the 2007 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Game at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) on April 3, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2008
900 John R Wooden Dr, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, looks on against the Purdue Boilermakers during the 2008 NCAA Tournament second-round game at Mackey Arena on March 25, 2008 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2008
401 Channelside Dr, Tampa, FL 33602, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 8, 2008 in Tampa, Florida.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2008
1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Pat Summitt attends the game between the San Antonio Silver Stars and the Los Angeles Sparks on August 30, 2008 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
2009
250 Gale Lemerand Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers watches her team against the Florida Gators during the game at the O'Connell Center on February 8, 2009 in Gainesville, Florida.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1970
15 Mt Pelia Rd, Martin, TN 38237, United States
Pat Summitt goes up for the lay-up at the Elam Center in Martin, Tennessee.
Gallery of Pat Summitt
1970
15 Mt Pelia Rd, Martin, TN 38237, United States
Pat Summitt at the Elam Center in Martin, Tennessee.
Achievements
2012
501 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers holds the championship trophy after winning the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena on March 4, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Membership
Awards
Olympic Games Silver Medal
1976
Olympic Games Silver Medal
Olympic Games Gold Medal
1984
Olympic Games Gold Medal
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award
2008
Pat Summitt wins the John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2012
Pat Summitt receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Arthur Ashe Courage Award
2012
777 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Pat Summitt accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during the 2012 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. (now Microsoft Theater) on July 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, watches her team from the sidelines during a game with the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters during the 1987 season.
Bridgette Gordon of the Tennessee Lady Vols covers her face and talks to coach Pat Summitt in the Final Four game against Long Beach State during the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1987.
6801 Franklin Ave, New Orleans, LA 70122, United States
Dena Head listens to instructions from head coach Pat Summitt during the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four Championship game against the University of Virginia Cavaliers on March 31, 1991 at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Pat Summitt watches from the sideline bench during the NCAA Central Fidelity Women's Invitational Tournament college basketball game against the Penn State Lady Lions on December 9, 1994 at the Robins Center Arena in Richmond, Virginia, United States.
Pat Summitt watches from the sideline bench during the NCAA Southeastern Conference women's college basketball game against the Auburn University Tigers on January 6, 1994 at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
100 Paul Buck Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28217, United States
Pat Summitt celebrates with her son Tyler after the Lady Volunteers defeat Georgia in the championship game of the NCAA Women's Final Four played at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
525 W Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers signals from the sidelines during a game against the Sanford Cardinals at the San Jose Arena (now SAP Center) in San Jose, California.
1800 Genessee St, Kansas City, MO 64102, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers in action during a playoff game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers cheers on her team's effort during the NCAA Women's Championship game against the University of Connecticut Huskies at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Vols speaks before presenting former head coach Leon Barmore of Louisiana Tech University at the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on September 5, 2003 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Pat Summitt talks to Shanna Zolman of the Tennessee Lady Vols during a break in the action against the Michigan State Spartans in the Semifinal game of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Pat Summitt, assistant coaches Dean Lockwood, Holly Warlick and Nikki Caldwell of the Tennessee Lady Vols react to a play in the Semifinal game of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship against the Michigan State Spartans on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1, Center Court, Cleveland, OH 44115, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates after cutting down the net after Tennessee's 59-46 win against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to win the 2007 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Game at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) on April 3, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio.
900 John R Wooden Dr, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, looks on against the Purdue Boilermakers during the 2008 NCAA Tournament second-round game at Mackey Arena on March 25, 2008 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
401 Channelside Dr, Tampa, FL 33602, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrates their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 8, 2008 in Tampa, Florida.
1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Pat Summitt attends the game between the San Antonio Silver Stars and the Los Angeles Sparks on August 30, 2008 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
250 Gale Lemerand Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers watches her team against the Florida Gators during the game at the O'Connell Center on February 8, 2009 in Gainesville, Florida.
Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Volunteers holds the championship trophy after winning the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena on March 4, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee.
777 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Pat Summitt accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during the 2012 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. (now Microsoft Theater) on July 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
(In Reach for the Summit, Pat presented her formula for su...)
In Reach for the Summit, Pat presented her formula for success, which she called the "Definite Dozen System." In each of the book's twelve chapters, Summitt talked about one of the system's principles - such as responsibility, discipline, and loyalty - and showed how to apply it to your own situation.
Raise the Roof: The Inspiring Inside Story of the Tennessee Lady Vols' Historic 1997-1998 Threepeat Season
("It wasn't a team. It was a tent revival." So says Pat Su...)
"It wasn't a team. It was a tent revival." So says Pat Summitt, the legendary coach whose Tennessee Lady Vols entered the 1997-98 season aiming for an almost unprecedented "three-peat" of NCAA championships. Raise the Roof takes you right inside the locker room of her amazing team, whose inspired mixture of gifted freshmen and seasoned stars produced a standard of play that would change the game of women's basketball forever.
Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective
(Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basket...)
Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history and bestselling author of Reach for the Summitt and Raise the Roof, tells for the first time her remarkable story of victory and resilience as well as facing down her greatest challenge: early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Pat Summitt was an American collegiate women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee who led the squad to eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships and compiled more wins (1,098) than any other Division I college basketball coach in NCAA history.
Background
Pat Summitt was born Patricia Sue Head on June 14, 1952 in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States; the daughter of James Richard Head, a self-employed businessman, and Hazel Albright Head, a homemaker. She had four siblings - brothers Tommy, Charles, and Kenneth, and a sister, Linda.
Education
Summit's family ran a farm. She participated in all the chores necessary on a farm and learned how to hold her own against her older brothers. She also learned basketball from them. Most evenings, after completing their chores, she and her brothers would climb the twenty-foot barn ladder to the top of the hayloft and play two-on-two basketball. She loved the game but, once she reached high school, she found out that her school district did not offer girls' basketball. Her father, supportive of her talent, moved the family across the county line to a school district that had girls' basketball.
Summit graduated from Cheatham County High in Ashland, in 1970. She then attended the University of Tennessee-Martin, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1974. As a college student, she played with the Lady Pacers, the university's women's basketball team. As a junior, she played in the United States World University Games, held in the Soviet Union, winning the silver medal. She hoped to play on the United States Olympic team, but those hopes were nearly dashed when, during her senior year, she suffered a knee injury. An orthopedic surgeon told Summitt that she would not be able to play basketball again. But Summitt would not give up.
In 1975, Pat received a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
After graduation, Summitt was offered a job as the women's basketball assistant coach for her alma mater. After the head coach quit, Summitt, just twenty-two years old, was made head coach. She had never coached a game before and had no assistant coach. But she pushed her fear aside and threw herself into this new challenge. In addition to coaching, she also taught physical education courses. At the same time, she worked on healing her knee and training herself for her Olympic dream. She worked out twice a day, losing twenty-seven pounds. Within a year, her knee was well enough for her to compete in the 1975 Pan American Games. The United States team won the gold medal. She was then named to the United States Olympic team and selected co-captain. The team claimed the silver medal in Montreal.
Summitt returned to her duties as head coach of the University of Tennessee-Martin's Lady Volunteers (often called simply the Lady Vols), guiding the team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four. The Lady Vols finished 16-8 that season. She continued to play herself throughout the rest of the 1970s, playing in the World Championships and the Pan American Games. She looked forward to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow but was forced to sit this Olympics out since the United States boycotted the 1980 games in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But in 1984 Summitt went to the Olympics once again, this time as a coach. The United States team won the gold medal, securing its place in history as the first United States women's basketball team to take home the gold.
Her coaching success continued at the University of Tennessee, where she won the NCAA championships in 1987 and 1989. In the 1990s, the Lady Vols won four NCAA championships: 1991, 1996, 1997, and 1998. The team became the first women's basketball team ever to win three NCAA titles in a row.
In the 2000s, Pat worked as a consultant to the WNBA, advising on player selection. In 1999, she also worked as a commentator on the ESPN sports network.
In January 2003, Summitt became the first women's basketball coach to pass the 800-win mark. Her record at that time stood at an astonishing 800 wins to only 161 losses in 29 seasons. By then she also had six national championships to her credit.
In 2005, she earned her 880th victory, breaking Dean Smith's record. Four years later, she became the first NCAA basketball coach to register 1,000 career wins.
In 2011, Summitt was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Although she continued coaching for one more season, many of her duties were handled by her assistants. Summitt stepped down as head coach in April 2012, but she remained a part of the Lady Vols' coaching staff in an advisory role under the title "head coach emeritus." Summitt finished her coaching career with 1,098 wins in 1,306 games coached in AIAW and NCAA Division I play.
In addition to collegiate basketball, Summitt released several self-help books, such as Reach for the Summit and Raise the Roof (each with Sally Jenkins).
Pat Summitt was considered one of the best college-level coaches. She achieved 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history upon her retirement.
Summitt was recognized with numerous awards. She was named coach of the year three times by the Southeastern Conference (SEC) - 1993, 1995, and 1998. She became the first women's college basketball coach to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997. The following year, she was named both the Naismith Coach of the Year and the Sporting News Coach of the Year. In 1999, she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Summitt was subsequently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, only the fourth women's basketball coach to be inducted. Also in 2000, she was named the Naismith Coach of the Century.
In January 2003, Summitt became the first female coach to win eight hundred games. The following season, she coached her one-thousandth game.
In 2009, Pat was placed at number 11 on the Sporting News list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time in all sports. She was the only woman on the list. In 2012, Summitt was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Barack Obama. She also received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2012 ESPY Awards. In 2013, she was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
("It wasn't a team. It was a tent revival." So says Pat Su...)
1998
Religion
Summitt was raised in a Methodist church in rural Tennessee.
Views
Pat Summitt created a foundation to raise money for Alzheimer's research and worked to raise awareness of the disease. After her death, the Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Clinic was opened at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, with funds from her Foundation.
Quotations:
"The willingness to experiment with change may be the most essential ingredient to success at anything."
"Attitude is a choice. Think positive thoughts daily. Believe in yourself."
"Here's how I'm going to beat you. I'm going to outwork you. That's it. That's all there is to it."
"It's harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals."
"You can't always be the most talented person in the room. But you can be the most competitive."
"Teamwork is what makes common people capable of uncommon results."
"It is what it is. But, it will be what you make it."
"Attitude is a choice. What you think you can do, whether positive or negative, confident or scared, will most likely happen."
"The absolute heart of loyalty is to value those people who tell you the truth, not just those people who tell you what you want to hear. In fact, you should value them most. Because they have paid you the compliment of leveling with you and assuming you can handle it."
"Most people get excited about games, but I've got to be excited about practice, because that's my classroom."
"You spend more of the game preparing to win in the final seconds. And that is what separates winners from losers."
"I hate to sound this way but, 'Why me? Why me with dementia?'"
"No one feels strong when she examines her own weakness. But in facing weakness, you learn how much there is in you, and you find real strength."
"If I was renowned as a tough coach, I also wanted to be a caring one."
"The greatest strength of any human being is to recognize his or her own weaknesses. When you identify your weaknesses, you can begin to remedy them - or at least figure out how to work around them."
"There is an old saying: a champion is someone who is willing to be uncomfortable."
"Teamwork doesn't come naturally. It must be taught."
"Success is a project that's always under construction."
"There is nothing wrong with having competitive instincts. They are survival instincts."
"There is always someone better than you. Whatever it is that you do for a living, chances are, you will run into a situation in which you are not as talented as the person next to you. That's when being a competitor can make a difference in your fortunes."
"If I'm not leading by example, then I'm not doing the right thing. And I want to always do the right thing."
"When you grow up on a dairy farm, cows don't take a day off. So you work every day and my dad always said, 'No one can outwork you.'"
"Nine-tenths of discipline is having the patience to do things right."
"You're wondering what a bale of hay has to do with success. Well, there's a trick to loading hay. You have to use your knee. What you do is, you put your right knee behind it and half kick it up in the air. That way you get some lift on it. ... My point is, there are certain ways to make a hard job easier."
"Success lulls you. It makes the most ambitious of us complacent and sloppy. In a way, you have to cultivate a kind of amnesia and forget all of your previous prosperity."
"I think I can help others just by my example."
"We do not win championships with girls. We win with competitors."
"Losing strengthens you. It reveals your weaknesses so you can fix them."
"In the absence of feedback, people will fill in the blanks with a negative. They will assume you don't care about them or don't like them."
Membership
Pat Summitt was a member of Chi Omega Sorority.
Personality
Pat Summitt was widely recognized as one of the toughest coaches in college basketball history. She was best known for giving her players an icy stare in response to poor play, known as "The Summitt Stare."
Physical Characteristics:
Pat Summitt was 5 ft 10 in (1.8 m) tall.
In 2011, Summitt was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Quotes from others about the person
Tamika Catchings: "She was the epitome of what being great is all about."
Interests
cooking
Sport & Clubs
golf, running, water-skiing, boating
Connections
In 1980, Pat Summitt married Ross Barnes Summitt II. The couple had one son - Ross Tyler Summitt. Summitt filed for divorce from her husband in 2007.
Father:
James Richard Head
(October 12, 1922 - October 23, 2005)
Mother:
Hazel Albright Head
(October 13, 1925 - January 23, 2019)
ex-spouse:
Ross Barnes Summitt II
Son:
Ross Tyler Summitt
(born September 21, 1990)
Ross Tyler Summitt is a former American college basketball player and coach. He was the head coach for the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters from 2014 to 2016.
Friend:
Peyton Manning
(born March 24, 1976)
Peyton Manning is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons.
References
The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt
With 1,098 wins and eight national championships, Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt has left a remarkable legacy of perseverance, leadership, and passion for the game - but her victories on the court aren't the only legacy she has left in her wake.
2016
Pat Summitt I'm Not!
The retired Army officer had played and coached basketball in the Army, so he thought that he could easily adapt what he knew to coach his daughter's basketball teams. Little did he know how hard it would be to transfer his skills.