One Thousand
Posted: Friday, February 06, 2009 by Travis Cody in
Congratulations to University of Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Pat Summit, who became the first Division I basketball coach, male or female, to win 1000 games in her storied career, with a 73-43 win over Georgia on Thursday.
That's a pretty amazing number. Only two other coaches, Bob Knight with 902 and Jody Conradt with 900, have gotten to 900 wins. Both Coach Knight (Indiana University, Texas Tech) and Coach Conradt (Baylor, University of Texas) are retired.
But the truly staggering thing is that Coach Summit only has 186 losses against those 1000 wins in 35 years of coaching, all at Tennessee. Her achievements with the Lady Vols are equally legendary.
8 NCAA National Championships
14 SEC League Championships
13 SEC Tournament Championships
7 Time SEC Coach of the Year
7 Time NCAA Coach of the Year
Naismith Coach of the 20th Century
Innaugural inductee into the Women's Basketball HOF in 1999
Inducted into the Basketball HOF in 2000
2 basketball courts are named in her honor
2 streets are named in her honor
45 of her former players have become coaches
Coached UT to an undefeated 39-0 in 1997-98
Coach Summit has a set of 12 directives posted in the UT locker room. We'd all do well to apply these basic precepts in our own lives.
- Respect yourself and others
- Take full responsibility
- Develop and demonstrate loyalty
- Learn to be a great communicator
- Discipline yourself so no one else has to
- Make hard work your passion
- Don't just work hard, work smart
- Put the team before yourself
- Make winning an attitude
- Be a competitor
- Change is a must
- Handle success like you handle failure
Nice job, Coach.
Incredible records, for sure! But I really like her 12 Directives!