Home

History

Directors

Coaches

Counselors

Campers

Slam Dunk

Photo Gallery

Referees

NBA

Travel

Contact Info



 


HEAD COACH PAT SUMMITT


33rd Season - 947-180 (.840)

Seven National Championships

Pat Summitt Year by Year (PDF)
Pat Summitt by the Numbers (PDF)
The incomparable Pat Head Summitt, head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer basketball team, starts her 34th season at the helm of the nation's most successful program in 2007-08. A "hoopdom" built tirelessly, diligently and successfully by Summitt, her staff and the 143 student-athletes who have been fortunate enough to don the Orange & White jerseys of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers for over three decades.
Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women) with 947 victories, enters her latest campaign as the reigning 2007 NCAA Champions. On April 3, 2007, Summitt's Lady Vols brought home a seventh NCAA basketball title to Knoxville after defeating #2-ranked North Carolina in the semis, 56-50, and #15-ranked Rutgers in the championship game, 59-46. A brief synopsis of Summitt's resume goes like this: A consummate taskmaster, she has kept her elite program in the winner's circle for over three decades, producing a mind-boggling record of 947-180 (.840). During her tenure, the Lady Vols have won seven NCAA titles, as well as 26 Southeastern Conference tournament and regular season championships. Tennessee has made an unprecedented 26 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Sweet 16 and produced 12 Olympians, 19 Kodak All-Americans named to 32 teams, and 69 All-SEC performers. Along with the success on the court, Summitt's student-athletes have tremendous productivity in the classroom. Coach Summitt has a 100 percent graduation rate for all Lady Vols who have completed their eligibility at Tennessee.

She'll Tell You - It's All About the Players

Through the years, Summitt has reached numerous goals and worn many hats at the University of Tennessee as a student, an educator and a coach. She'll be the first to tell you that her success is due to the players who have represented Lady Vol basketball since she came on board as the head coach as a 22-year old in 1974. And today, it is still safe to say that she is an educator and role model to her players, a student of the ever-changing game, and one of the most successful women's basketball coaches in the nation.

In so many ways, she is more than just a coach.
To her athletes, she is just "Pat" from the minute she meets them for the first time on a recruiting visit to the day they walk across the stage in Thompson-Boling Arena to receive their diploma from UT. To the University of Tennessee she is a goodwill ambassador, taking her teams to play basketball in more than 40 states and 11 foreign countries. And the resume she has created along with an outstanding cast of players and staff is amazing -- Seven NCAA titles, 26 Southeastern Conference tournament and regular season championships, 12 Olympians, 19 Kodak All-Americans named to 32 teams, 69 All-SEC performers, 45 international participants and 39 professional players representing the ABL, WNBA or overseas teams. Thirty-three seasons as a proven winner, champion, master motivator and role model. Who is Pat Head Summitt? She's an intense, demanding, focused, bright blue steely-eyed competitor who is also a very caring, family-oriented person who enjoys a great walk on the beach with the family dogs, Sally Sue and Sadie, or assembling a good ole southern home-cooked meal for her team.

Her players talk of the opportunities afforded them later in life with a degree in life lessons from Summitt and a diploma from Tennessee. And, of course, there is the incredible graduation rate of her players and the successes they have garnered in life long after their playing days were over at Tennessee. Every Lady Vol who has completed her eligibility at UT has received her degree or is in the process of completing her degree requirements. Summitt instills a pattern of success in her players and constantly challenges them to reach their potential as a student and an athlete.

Incredibly, every Lady Vol hoopster (since 1976) has played in at least one Final Four during her career at Tennessee. There have been three classes of players in Lady Vol history to go to the Final Four all four years of their UT tenure. First to do it was the class of Sheila Frost, Bridgette Gordon and Melissa McCray (1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989) - that trio won NCAA Championships in 1987 and 1989. The next player to do it was Laurie Milligan (1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998). Milligan was onboard for three consecutive titles, 1996-97-98. The latest group to do it was the class of Shyra Ely, Brittany Jackson and Loree Moore - they went in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

The Million Dollar Coach
On May 22, 2006, UT President Dr. John Petersen and Women's Athletics Director Joan Cronan awarded Summitt a six-year contract extension. The new agreement elevates her annual total compensation package to $1.125 million in 2006-07 and reaches $1.5 million by the 2011-12 basketball season. It seems only fitting, with all of her firsts and achievements in the game, that Summitt become the first women's basketball coach to break through the million dollar ceiling.
On her way to 1,000 wins
Summitt may have 1,127 collegiate basketball games under her belt and 947 wins to show for it over three decades, but she never underestimates the potential of her Lady Vol student-athletes who start seasons as believers and by year's end, she has turned them into achievers. Fifty-three wins separate Summitt from 1,000 career victories. Given her pace of an average of 31.7 wins and only 4.4 losses per season for the past decade, Summitt could reach 1,000 wins in February of 2009.
The Progression of the Winningest Coach
It seemed only fitting that Summitt broke the most significant record in her coaching career in the NCAA Tournament. On March 22, 2005, in Knoxville, Tenn., she led her Lady Vols past Purdue, 75-54, in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory was the 880th of her coaching career, moving her past the legendary Dean Smith of North Carolina (879 victories) as the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history.
Summitt earned her most recent 100 wins (800-900) in a span of just three years and four days. Her fastest 100-win total occurred between victories No. 500 and No. 600, which she achieved in only three years and two days. Her toughest set of 100 wins? Victories 200-300 took five years and 32 days to collect. The progression: 1-100 (3 years/32 days), 100-200 (3 years/324 days), 200-300 (5 years/32 days), 300-400 (3 years/21 days), 400-500 (3 years/300 days), 500-600 (3 years/2 days), 600-700 (3 years/12 days), 700-800 (3 years/39 days) and 800-900 (3 years/4 days). In a poll conducted on coaches' ages and victories, Summitt was found to be the youngest coach in the nation to reach 300 victories (34 years old), 400 victories (37 years old), 500 wins (41 years old), 600 victories (44 years old), 700 wins (47 years old), 800 victories (50 years old) and 900 wins (53 years old).
Lofty Plateaus
Sometimes it is truly mind-boggling to realize just what all she has accomplished during her illustrious career. There are many achievements a coach can garner during her career. Some are lucky enough to hit milestone wins … others are fortunate to grab their conference championship … very few make it to the Big Dance … a select few can be called national championship or Olympic coaches. For others it is developing their players to achieve All-Conference, All-America, or for the elite few, WNBA and Olympic status. Then there is the handful of coaching legends who are elected to the Basketball Halls of Fame. During Summitt's 33-year career at UT, she has achieved each of these plateaus - some of them, more than once.

On her first try, she picked up her 900th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 19, 2006, with a come-from-behind victory over #19-ranked Vanderbilt, 80-68, in Nashville, Tenn. She also collected wins #100, 400, 700 and 800 on the first attempt. Three years earlier, almost to the day, she eclipsed the 800 career victory plateau midway through her 29th season with a 76-57 win over #25/24-ranked DePaul on Jan.14, 2003, in Knoxville. In doing so, she became the first woman in all of NCAA Division I basketball to accomplish such a lofty goal, and she achieved 800 wins faster than any basketball coach, ever. Summitt recorded yet another career milestone on Jan. 22, 2004, when she coached in her 1,000th collegiate game and produced a 79-54 win over Vanderbilt at home.
BIG SUMMITT NUMBERS
(all in 33 seasons as head coach)

OVERALL: 947-180 (.840)
HOME: 431-42 (.910)
AWAY: 311-79 (.797)
NEUTRAL: 205-59 (.776)

SEC GAMES
OVERALL: 379-57 (.869) vs. all SEC
HOME: 169-12 (.933)
AWAY: 143-29 (.831)
NEUTRAL: 67-16 (.807)

NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
OVERALL: 568-123 (.821)

SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
(14 out of 28) 1980, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007

SEC TOURNAMENT TITLES
(12 out of 28) 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006
OVERALL: 55-16 (.782)
TITLES: 12 out of 28

VS. RANKED TEAMS
OVERALL: 382-148 (.721)
RANKED 1-10: 165-111 (.600)
RANKED 11-25: 217-37 (.854)

UNRANKED TEAMS
OVERALL: 565-32 (. 947)

NCAA TOURNAMENT
OVERALL: 98-19 (.838)
FIRST/SECOND ROUNDS: 40-0
24 REGIONAL SEMIS: 22-4
20 REGIONAL FINALS: 17-5
16 NCAA FINAL FOURS: 19-10
NCAA TITLES: 7 (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007)

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR
1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007

NCAA COACH OF THE YEAR
1983, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2004

NAISMITH COACH OF THE CENTURY
2000