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.