University of Tennessee-Knoxville

When we left Pat Head back at UT-Martin, she had finished second at the World University Games and ended her college career early with a knee injury. So how did she get from there to head coach of a nationally ranked program? With a lot of hard work and a little help from her friends. And by friends we mean family, colleagues, administrators, fellow coaches, the basketball community, and the 161 young women she coached. Five years after Title IX, Gloria Ray was appointed the first women’s athletic director at UTK. In 1983, Joan Cronan succeeded Ray as the women’s AD. For nearly 30 years, Cronan worked to build the Lady Vols’ national reputation.

Pat Summitt began coaching in 1974 at age 22. From 1974 to 1976, Pat did it all: coached, earned a master’s degree, and trained to play on the 1976 Olympics. She later coached the 1984 US Olympic team to a gold medal. In 1987, the Lady Vols won their first NCAA national championship. Her 8th and final championship was in 2008. In her 38 years as head coach, she coached great players like Tonya Edwards, Bridgette Gordon, Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, and Candace Parker, but Pat wasn’t just a basketball coach. She also supported other women’s programs—meeting with recruits like softball star Monica Abbott, who led the Lady Vols softball team to their first Women’s College World Series in 2005.

Pat’s influence can also be seen “on the sidelines and in front offices throughout the college and professional ranks.” When Pat retired in 2012, “78 people who were mentored by her were coaching basketball or working in administrative positions associated with the game.” A few of these 78 include Kellie Jolly Harper, Kara Lawson, Mickie DeMoss, and Nikki Fargas.

Summitt stepped down after receiving a diagnosis of early on-set dementia; she passed away four years later in June 2016. Pat’s legacy continues on through the Pat Summitt Foundation, and her longtime friend and colleague, Joan Cronan, serves as chair of the advisory board.

Fun fact: The first “Lady Vol” was actually a golfer. Ann Baker Furrow was given an athletic scholarship to play on the men’s golf team in 1963—nine years before Title IX.

Your final stop of the tour will be the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame located at 700 S Hall of Fame Dr, Knoxville, which opened in 1999 and as of 2021 has inducted 179 members.