June 28, 2016

This morning, June 28, legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt died at age 64. Summitt coached the University of Tennessee Lady Vols from 1974 to 2012, leading them to eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships. She ended her career with more wins (1,098) than any other coach in NCAA Division I history. Summitt stepped down as head coach at Tennessee in 2012 after being diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

Legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summit, seen here with the Southeastern Conference tournament championship trophy in 2012, died of early onset dementia on June 28, 2016.
Credit: © AP Images

Patricia Sue Head was born in Henrietta, Tennessee, on June 14, 1952. She married R. B. Summitt, a bank executive, in 1980. She starred in basketball while attending the University of Tennessee at Martin. She graduated in 1974 with a B.S. degree in physical education. She received an M.S. degree in physical education in 1975 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Summitt was co-captain of the United States women’s basketball team that won the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and coached the U.S. team that won gold at the 1984 Olympics. In 2000, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was honored as the Naismith Coach of the 20^th Century in women’s basketball.

In March 2005, Summitt won her 880^th game as a head coach, breaking the NCAA record held by Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina. In February 2009, Summitt became the first NCAA coach to win 1,000 games. Named the NCAA coach of the year seven times, Summitt led the Lady Vols to 16 Southeastern Conference tournament titles and 22 Final Fours. Her University of Tennessee teams won NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008. In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama presented Summitt with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

April 10, 2013

Women’s basketball history was made yesterday when the University of Connecticut’s UConn Huskies won their eighth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) National Championship under coach Geno Auriemma. The Huskies beat the University of Louisville Cardinals 93-60, the most lopsided victory ever in a title game.

Geno Auriemma began coaching women’s basketball as an assistant coach in 1978 with St. Joseph’s University.  He began coaching the Connecticut women’s basketball team in 1986. His UConn Huskies won the NCAA National Championship in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, and 2013. The 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2010 teams were undefeated.

Only one other women’s basketball program has won the NCAA title eight times–the Tennessee Volunteers under coach Pat Summit. Summit played women’s basketball for the University of Tennessee in the 1970′s. She was co-captain of the U.S. Olympic team that won a silver medal at the Montreal games in 1976. She began coaching for the Tennessee Volunteers in 1974 while a graduate assistant. Her teams won NCAA National Championships in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008.

Auriemma has the possibility of breaking the NCAA record with the Huskies but, sadly, Summitt stopped coaching in 2012. She suffers from early-onset dementia.

Additional World Book articles:

• Basketball (2010 Back in time)
• Basketball (2012 Back in time)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)