Photo: Staff Sgt. Christina M. O'Connell. Cropped by User:Blueag9. / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
To me, Pat Summitt is less a coach than a force of nature. The 1,098 wins are staggering, but what lingers is that she earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the same era she faced down a brutal diagnosis with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. That tells you everything: her real legacy was character, not the scoreboard. A small-town Tennessee woman who reshaped how the country sees women's sports, and who kept her chin up to the end. I suspect every player she touched still hears her voice. Genuine, hard-earned reverence from me here.
Overview
Patricia Susan Summitt (née Head; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. She coached 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Pat Summitt
- Name (Japanese)
- パット・サミット
- Reading
- ぱっと・さみっと
- Born
- June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Dragon
- Origin
- Clarksville, Tennessee, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 178 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- basketball player / basketball coach
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Tennessee at Martin
Awards & achievements
- 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Arthur Ashe Courage Award
- 1998 Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year
- Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame
- Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
- 2012 USBWA Most Courageous Award
- 1990 John Bunn Award
- FIBA Hall of Fame
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Basketball player — see all → · Basketball coach — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.