Punchlines: In praise of Pat Summitt

In praise of Pat Summitt

Only 161 women passed through the Lady Vols basketball program during Pat Summitt’s 38 years as coach, but her impact was felt far beyond the court.

Tonight, thousands of fans, friends and admirers will join her family to pay their respects at a memorial service in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and those attending are asked to be seated with their cellphones silent by 6:30 p.m. The ceremony will be televised by ESPN2 and the SEC Network and streamed live online at utsports.com and patsummitt.org.

Summitt died June 28 after a five-year battle with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, those who knew her have offered remembrances of the legendary coach. Here are a few favorites.

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A Twitter story from Princeton women’s basketball coach and 2015 Coach of the Year Courtney Banghart:

I first met Pat Summitt when I was in my 2nd year as an assistant coach [at Dartmouth]. I left Disney’s massive Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando during one of their signature flash floods. Not yet accustomed to the realities of a different rental car every day, I left the facility with literally no idea of the whereabouts (or color) of the rental car I had parked over 12 hours earlier when I arrived for the morning’s first game. Pat Summitt was trailing me.

“Don’t you have an umbrella?”

I could barely speak. “An umbrella seems like a smart item to pack next time.”

“Come here. Get under here with me.”

I’ll remember those words for forever.

So there I went, walking out to the parking lot huddled under an umbrella with Pat Summitt.

“Which way is your car?” she asked.

Oh no. Not good.

“Well, I’m actually not sure. Can you believe that?”

She clearly believed it, as she immediately offered me a ride, “we’ll find your car together.” I was so embarrassed. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, so there I was – in the backseat of a black car (she had a driver), as we went aisle by aisle through the parking lot.

We eventually found the car (truth be told, SHE spotted the lit taillights first). As I got out, she said: “Courtney, that was fun. I hope we meet again.”

Fast forward a year. I was in the Bayou, the night before the start of an AAU evaluation event. I was having dinner with a group of assistant coaches. Pat walked in and was seated a few tables away. I went over to say hi, to thank that hilarious hero of mine for saving me from the fiasco in Orlando. As we finished up dinner, I asked for the bill. The young server said: “The bill was taken care of by Coach Summitt. She told me to tell you, ‘good luck finding your car.’

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Former Tennessee men’s basketball player Brian Williams, who played for former coach Bruce Pearl from 2007-11, shared his favorite memory of Summitt on Facebook, about the time she took over a men’s practice.

“We was goofing around and Pat was watching,” Williams wrote via 247Sports. “She got fed up and threw the ball and everyone stopped. She said, ‘Run sprints, and run them fast.'”

The players looked at Pearl, hoping he’d step in. But he didn’t.

“He looked back at us and walked away and sat down, and Pat ran the rest of practice,” Williams wrote. “I remember I threw up twice that day.”

Williams added that he and the men’s team always respected Summitt – even before she made them run.

“The amount of respect we had for her was unmatched, and the lives she created for thousands will never go unnoticed,” he wrote. “Thanks for everything, Pat.”

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In USA Today, former Lady Vols athletics director Joan Cronan told of a time Summitt was eating dinner in Florida while a nearby couple stared.

Finally, Summitt got up to introduce herself, convinced that the onlookers were fans wanting to meet her.

In fact, the couple thought they recognized Summitt from a local Ace Hardware store.

“Every time Pat got a little big-headed, we reminded her she works at Ace Hardware,” Cronan said.

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A Washington Post story by Sally Jenkins summed up the kind of person Summitt. This is a letter Summitt sent to freshman player Sheila Collins, dated Nov. 22, 1982:

Shelia, This is your first game. I hope you win for your sake, not mine. Because winning’s nice. It’s a good feeling. Like the whole world is yours. But it passes, this feeling. And what lasts is what you’ve learned. And what you’ve learned about is – life. That’s what sport is all about – life!

The whole thing is played out in an afternoon. The happiness of life, the miseries, the joys, the heartbreaks. There’s no telling what will turn up. There’s no telling how you’ll do. You might be a hero. Or you might be absolutely nothing.

There’s just no telling. Too much depends on chance, on how the ball bounces.

I’m not talking about the game. I’m talking about life. But it’s life that the game is all about. Just as I said, every game is life, and life is a game. A serious one. Dead serious. But here’s what you do with serious things. You do your best. You take what comes.

You take what comes and you run with it.

Winning is fun Sure.

But winning is not the point.

Wanting to win is the point.

Not giving up is the point.

Never letting up is the point.

Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point.

The game is never over. No matter what the scoreboard reads, or what the referee says, it doesn’t end when you come off the court.

The secret of the game is in doing your best. To persist and endure, “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

I’m proud to be your Coach,

Pat Head Summitt

Laugh Lines is compiled from various sources, including reader submissions and websites. Origins are included when known.