WASHINGTON — A few years ago, the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team was waiting at a Montana airport for coach Pat Summitt to land so they could head to an important game. Summitt arrived wearing cowboy boots and a leather vest and chaps.
Memorable. That is how Carolyn Peck, former assistant coach at University of Tennessee remembers Summitt, who died Tuesday at age 64. Summitt finished her career with 1,098 victories, eight national titles and 38 years as the head coach.
“People remember Pat Summitt as a coach who won 1,098 games. But the number of lives she has touched is immeasurable,” said Peck, now an associate coach at Vanderbilt University.
Summit’s humility surprised people, Peck said. The late coach always took the time to get to know everybody in her life.
On the basketball field, she was always prepared for the “what if,” she said. She had backup plan for a backup plan and made sure her team was never unprepared for any circumstance.
Peck said Summitt created the frameworks for female coaches. Athletes who played or worked for her will use her as an example for future female coaches to follow, Peck said.
Summitt’s legacy extends to coaches who considered her a role model even if they didn’t know her personally.
“She broke a lot of barriers between men’s and women’s basketball game and opened doors for more opportunities for female coaches,” said Corry Irvin, head coach of the well-known Whitney Young Dolphins, a high school team in Chicago.
Irvin has read Summitt’s books and tries to emulate Summitt’s coaching style by being fierce but caring toward her team.
Dorothy Gaters, head coach at Marshall High School in Chicago, was introduced by Summitt when she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. Gaters said she will forever cherish a picture for her and Summitt taken at the event.
“She made the women’s game more respectable,” Gaters said. “She was a fierce competitor, and she has set a high bar for future female coaches.”
Summitt loved cooking – especially jalapeno corn—and loved having people over at her apartment, Peck said, reminiscing.
Photo at top: Pat Summitt died Tuesday at the age of 64. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).