In remarks on the U.S. Senate floor on Wednesday, Senator Bob Corker honored the life and achievements of legendary University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coach Pat Summitt, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 64. A transcript of Senator Corker’s remarks is below.
The full text of Senator Corker’s floor remarks follows:
I am so glad to join the senior senator from our state who has set such an example here in the Senate in recognizing and honoring Pat Summitt.
Basketball has lost a legend.
As I’m sure [Senator Lamar Alexander] said, Tennessee has lost one of its most beloved daughters.
There is perhaps no one who left a more indelible mark on his or her profession than Pat. In her 38 years as head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers, she amassed a historic record of achievement and blazed a trail for women across our country.
A farm girl from Henrietta, Tennessee, Pat attended the University of Tennessee-Martin, earning a bachelor’s degree and leading the women’s basketball team to two national championship tournaments.
Shortly after graduating, she accepted a position at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville as the head coach of the women’s basketball team – at 22-years old.
The rest, they say, is history.
In those early years, Pat washed jerseys, drove the team van, and was paid, as Lamar just mentioned, $250 a month.
38 years later, she walked off the hardwood as the winningest NCAA Division 1 basketball coach in history, with 1,098 victories, eight national championships, 32 combined Southeastern Conference titles and zero losing seasons.
But if you asked Pat, there is only one number that she would point to: 161.
161 Lady Vols who had the honor of wearing the orange and white over the span of her career.
As she once wrote: “I won 1,098 games, and eight national championships, and coached in four different decades. But what I see are not the numbers. I see their faces.”
And her influence on their lives was felt as much off the court as it was on it.
Every player who completed her eligibility at the University of Tennessee under Pat Summitt graduated.
That’s remarkable. Every single player. In 38 years. Think about that.
The impact she had on her players, the University of Tennessee, the Knoxville community, and the game of basketball will be felt for years to come.
In closing, as we look back on Pat’s life, I will echo the words of my friend and former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer who said: “Coach Summitt did not want a pity party. She said, ‘If you’re going to have one, I’m not coming.’”
So today, I join all Tennesseans in celebrating her life.
Celebrating the victories, the titles, and the relationships.
Celebrating a life well-lived and fight hard-fought.
I extend my thoughts and prayers to her son, Tyler, the Lady Vol family, and all those who were touched by her truly remarkable life.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.