Summitt reaches new heights: 1,000 wins
February 5, 2009 by jane
Filed under Basketball, College Basketball, General, History
Pat Summitt now has 1,000 victories, an unprecedented height even she finds dizzying.
“It’s a hard number to even comprehend,” the Tennessee coach said.
Summitt, 56, became the first Division I basketball coach—men’s or women’s—to win 1,000 career games Thursday night as her 12th-ranked Lady Vols beat Georgia 73-43. It was their second chance in four days at giving their coach her latest and one of her greatest milestones.
Summitt’s grand achievement took place in front of 16,058 adoring fans.
En route to the milestone, Summitt has made a remarkable journey. Her Tennessee teams have won eight NCAA titles, made 16 NCAA Final Four appearances and captured 27 Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships. She has coached 12 Olympians, 19 All-Americans, 71 All-SEC performers, 43 players who have gone on to the professional ranks, as well as numerous members of U.S. National Teams. Amazingly, every Lady Vol women’s basketball player since 1976 has played in at least one Final Four during her career at Tennessee.
Wow. That’s some resume. So why does her male counterpart at Tennessee, who’s won nary a single NCAA championship, make almost twice as much money as she does?
