Thousands Gather To Remember The Life Of Pat Summitt

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.  - There were the eight national championship trophies lining the front of the stage. There were the banners hanging in the rafters of Thompson-Boling Arena high above where one would normally find a lustrous hardwood floor with the words “The Summitt” highlighting its surface. On this occasion, however, lines and lines of folding chairs sat in its place.

 

Those in attendance at this special event soon realized that all these things did not wholly describe or represent the woman whose life they had gathered to celebrate this night.

 

If you know anything of sports, at any level, by now you know the story of Pat Summitt, how she was raised with her brothers and how her dad held her to the same standards as the boys.

Of how her brothers taught her the game of basketball on a court in the hayloft of their barn. And how she blazed trails and changed the face of women’s basketball forever.

 

Patricia (Trish) Head Summitt, known to most as simply Pat or Coach, we were to discover, was best described by the people with whom she surrounded herself. People who knew her best, people who had come to tell their stories about the coach with the steely-eyed glare more powerful than Superman’s heat vision.

 

A service of celebration was held Thursday night in the “house that Pat built” on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

 

And those who came to honor the coach whose life was cut short on June 28, 2016 by an insidious disease called early onset dementia, “Alzheimer’s Type,” were many and varied.

 

There were those with whom she worked at UT. People such as Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and former Women’s Athletic Director Joan Cronan. Former head football coaches Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer, along with current head coach Butch Jones.

 

Also there were Summitt’s adversaries during her 38-year career. A who’s who of the basketball world: Jody Conradt, former Texas women’s coach, and Sylvia Hatchell of North Carolina and Notre Dame’s Muffett McGraw; C. Vivian Stringer from Rutgers; Stanford’s Trish Vanderveer and former Georgia head coach Andy Landers.

 

On a local note, fellow Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member, UTC’s Jim Foster and local product Sharon Fanning-Otis, Mississippi State, came to pay their respects. Current Chattanooga AD David Blackburn also attended.

 

And then there was the man who would become her arch rival, of sorts, UConn’s Geno Auriemma.

 

From the political side of things, Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander along with Tennessee governor Bill Haslam.

 

And those who told the light-hearted stories, laced with laughter and love. Emcee Robin Roberts and Summitt’s only child, Tyler. Long-time assistant Mickie DeMoss and Pat’s successor with the Lady Vols, Holly Warlick. Former players Shelley Sexton-Collier and Tamika Catchings.

 

And finally, there was Peyton Manning. The recently retired and most likely soon to be NFL Hall of Fame member was honest and persuasive in his plea for support for the Pat Summitt Foundation, which Pat and son, Tyler formed in 2011 to help fight and find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

His voice cracking with emotion, Manning told of going to visit Summitt, along with Fulmer, knowing she would no longer recognize them. Later he said Chamique Holdsclaw told him of her watching television with her beloved coach and friend. She told Manning that when one of his television commercials would come on, Summitt would point at the tv screen and say, “That’s my friend. He comes to visit me.”

 

At that point many, many hands could be seen reaching to wipe away tears, this writer included.

 

Manning said, "Pat Summitt literally changed the history of the sport she loved. Every football player, myself included, would've been proud to have played for her."

 

He related that the only sports memorabilia he has in his office are two basketballs, one each autographed by Summitt for his two children. "We have shared being two ambassadors for Tennessee," he said.

 

"She was a teacher on and off the court. She epitomized the Lady Vols. If you ask me," he said, "Pat's true greatness was in her actions."

 

Manning concluded, "When all of us are forgotten, the world will remember her and say, there goes my friend."

 

Pat’s son Tyler told of a time when he was six years old and playing soccer. He said his mom had come to watch his game that day and at halftime he went up to her and asked how she thought he was doing. She said fine, but the young Tyler wasn’t convinced so he said to tell him what she really thought.

 

At that point, Tyler said, “She didn’t hold back. She told me I needed to be more aggressive and follow the ball, to knock people down if he needed to.” At the end of the game, the younger Summitt said he was chewed out pretty good by his coach. He went to his mom and told her, “I’m confused. You told me to be more aggressive and my coach said I was too aggressive. I guess mom didn’t realize I was a goalie,” he concluded.

 

Tyler told how everyday his mom told me that she loved me. He told how his mom had three hearts, a mother’s heart, a heart for others and a heart for Jesus Christ. He told how she sacrificed for others, even the family dog when she back-handed a raccoon off their deck.

 

“She is the strongest person I’ve ever known,” said Tyler, “and the strongest I will ever know. She showed her faith in her actions and her favorite scripture verse was Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”

 

In 2012 the two decided to go public with their faith and were baptized together.

 

Her son concluded by saying, “Let’s all strive to have a heart like Pat Summitt.”

 

Shelley Sexton-Collier said of her former coach, “Her life and life lessons exemplified Christ. She loved reading scripture and listening to scriptural music. She used to say, ‘No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.’”

 

“I once asked her how she handled the disease. She told me, right foot, left foot, breath, repeat. Pat ran her race and she ran it to win.”

 

Catchings said of Summitt, “Pat seemed invincible in every way. She was more than our coach, she was our mother, father, friend, mentor, and sister.” She continued, “The lady Vol family is here in unity. We came here to play ball, but left with so much more. She was the epitome of what great was all about.”

 

As all the Lady Vols attending stood to be recognized, an extended ovation rang throughout the arena before everyone in attendance was on their feet in recognition of these women who were Pat’s Lady Vols.

 

Catchings concluded her remarks by saying, “This is not goodbye but an until we meet again.”

 

DeMoss and Warlick were comical in sharing their stories of Summitt. Warlick told of Pat’s need to go fast and of how she would get out of tickets by keeping a trunk full of autographed basketballs that once a police officer had in their possession would tell the coach, “Now, you slow down Pat.”

 

DeMoss said of her colleague, “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is talk about Pat in the past tense.”

 

“Pat never forgot who she was or where she came from. One of her favorite quotes was from Alex Haley, “If you ever found a turtle on top of a fence post, you know he had some help. Pat always gave people credit.”

 

It’s hard to step inside Thompson-Boling without realizing the import of Summitt’s 38 years as the first, and until her retirement, and only women’s basketball coach at Tennessee.  The afore-mentioned banners proclaim her record of 1,098 wins (the most of any coach, men’s or women’s) against only 208 losses and, of course, the eight national championships. Pat’s personal banner hangs between Warlick’s and former men’s coach Ray Mears.

 

Not only did those who spoke reflect Summitt’s down to earth values, the music chosen was of a gospel nature that reflected her roots. Songs like Onward Christian Soldiers, Love Lifted Me, Jesus Loves Me, The Old Rugged Cross and To God Be The Glory along with Con Hunley’s rendition of I’ll Fly Away took many of us back to churches spread out across the South, much like the one Summitt attended in her youth.

 

Pat Summitt was a lady who was respected but just as equally loved by all who knew her, as evidenced by the sheer number of fans who came to pay their respects.

 

Pat Summitt put the “lady” in Lady Vols.

 

Contact Dennis Norwood at sportsshooter614@gmail.com; follow him on Twitter at @DennisENorwood.