In the 1960s, Pat Summitt, a teenage girl growing up in Tennessee, played basketball under rules that insulted her abilities. Women’s basketball was limited to six-on-six play. Three players stayed on offense, three on defense, and no one could cross midcourt. Players were restricted to two dribbles. These rules weren’t based on skill or strategy—they were based on the belief that women’s bodies were too fragile to handle the physical demands of the game. The men in charge claimed women needed a slowed-down version of the sport to protect them from injury and exhaustion.
But Pat hated those rules. She was stronger, faster, and more capable than the game allowed. Raised on a farm, her father treated her the same as her brothers—no excuses, no special treatment. When Pat wanted to practice, he built her a basketball court behind the barn. Despite the restrictive rules, Pat trained relentlessly. By high school, she was an All-American, but the world of women’s basketball still saw her as part of a lesser version of the sport.
Everything changed in 1974. At just twenty-two years old, Pat Head—newly married and now Pat Summitt—became the head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team. The job paid almost nothing, and there were no scholarships or television coverage, but women’s sports were on the cusp of a major shift. The passage of Title IX in 1972 mandated equal opportunities for women in education and athletics. Women’s basketball was finally moving to five-on-five, full-court play—the same rules that men had always used.
Pat Summitt built her program during this pivotal moment. She coached her players with the same intensity and discipline that men’s teams received. No excuses. Hard practices. High standards. She believed in competition, in winning, and in the importance of effort. Pat didn’t believe women needed to be protected from competition. Her practices were famous for their intensity—not for constant screaming, but for the way she used “The Stare,” a look that conveyed everything her players needed to know.
Some players transferred, but many stayed. Those who did often said Pat changed their lives. She demanded excellence on the court and in the classroom. Under her leadership, every player who finished at Tennessee graduated—no exceptions.
Over nearly four decades, Pat Summitt built Tennessee into a basketball dynasty. She won eight national championships, reached the Final Four eighteen times, and earned more than 1,000 career victories—1,098 to be exact—setting the record for the most wins in Division I college basketball history, men or women, at the time of her retirement. From a girl who had played under restrictive, demeaning rules, Pat became the winningest coach the sport had ever seen.
In 2011, Pat was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, at just fifty-nine years old. While many would have stepped away, Pat coached one more season, refusing to quit despite her failing memory. She retired in 2012 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She passed away in 2016, but her legacy lives on through the countless players she coached and inspired.
Pat Summitt’s story is a powerful reminder that strength is not just physical. She proved that women could handle more than anyone ever imagined—and she never let them settle for less.
