Pat Summitt to enter Lady Vols Hall Early
It normally takes an athlete 10 years after they’ve left the University of Tennessee and Administrators five years to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, but the school has waived that requirement for Pat Summitt who stepped down as the women’s head basketball coach last April, as the winningest Division 1 coach in NCAA history in either a men’s or women’s program, with 1,098 victories. Her win record puts her 198 wins above Jody Conradt who retired in 2007 with 900 wins and 213 above C. Vivian Stringer, who is still coaching the Rutgers University Women’s program.
Summitt led the Lady Vols for 38 years, earning eight National Championships, 16 SEC Championships, 16 SEC Tournament Championships, was named SEC Coach of the year eight times, was named NCAA Coach of the Year seven times, was named the Naismith Coach of the 20th Century in 2000, received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2012 ESPY Awards, and received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Also being enshrined into the Lady Vols Hall of Fame on November 2nd will be former Lady Vols basketball player Michelle Marciniak, track star Jane Haist, and golfer Young-A Yang.
Summitt stepped down when she revealed that she had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. She has been named head coach emeritus and is still active with the team.
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Saw a piece on ESPN on her recently.. Remarkable woman!
What is this hall of fame? Some private hall of fame Madame Tussaud wax monuments style?
Pat is cool girl, but what a bullshit are other names.
As the article states, it’s the Lady Vols Hall of Fame at the University of Tennessee. As for the other names, all three women are accomplished University of Tennessee women athletes that are being deservedly enshrined in their University’s Hall of Fame; Michelle Marciniak was Summitt’s point for three seasons and holds the distinction of having been hosting a Summitt recruiting visit when she (Summitt) went into labor with her son Tyler, more importantly though, Marciniak was the MVP of the 1995 NCAA Final Four, where she led the Lady Vols to a National Championship; Jane Haist was a standout shot putter and discus thrower on the University’s track and field team that was also an Olympian for Canada (finished 11th in the 1976 Olympics in the discus) and a multiple gold medal winner for Canada at the Commonwealth Games; Young-A Yang is a long-time Professional Golfer, competing on the LPGA and is one of the top-ranked women linksters in the University’s history. This is a University honor for Summitt, the point to the article is that the University has waived their normal five year waiting period for a coach to be eligible for enshrinement. She’s already a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame (Class of 2000).