[crowd cheering]
[Beth] Long before the titles,
[applause]
the tributes,
and her trailblazing dominance,
["Rocky Top" plays]
Patricia Sue Head Summitt was simply known as Trish,
a blue steely-eyed competitor at Cheatham County High School.
Life on her family's Middle Tennessee farm
was simple yet rigid, rooted in faith and hard work.
Trish, the fourth of five children,
balanced school lessons, basketball practice, and chores,
often chopping tobacco alongside her brothers.
She never missed a day of school.
That discipline carried over to UT Martin's basketball court
where defense was Trish's game.
She made the U.S. National Team,
but a knee injury sidelined her goal to play in the '76 Olympics.
Determined for gold,
Trish was focused on rehab when a letter came in the mail.
It was a job offer from Tennessee
asking the UT Martin senior
to coach the women's basketball team.
Terrified, she accepted the challenge.
[Pat] All Dr. Watson offered me was $250 a month.
[laughter]
I mean, I was bouncing checks all over the place.
[laughter]
And the opportunity to teach and get my master's degree.
As far as our attitudes, I've been very fortunate, I think,
to be involved with a group of girls that have a great attitude.
[Beth] Just a 22-year-old grad student,
her mentors in the UT Physical Education Department
shortened her name from Patricia to Pat.
She coached players a year younger and taught PE,
oftentimes arriving hours before a game to set up chairs and sweep the floors.
Back then, fan support was meager.
Just 53 people witnessed her first win.
And those initial losses were agonizing
but fueled a relentless pursuit for excellence.
She turned to her dad for advice.
He told her, "You don't take a donkey to the Kentucky Derby."
"You better get yourself some racehorses."
And she did.
Just four years later, Pat hit 100 wins.
In 1984, she finally struck gold,
coaching the U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team in LA.
And by 1987, she was cutting down her first nets as a national champion.
[Pat] If anyone deserves it, the University of Tennessee deserves it.
They've made a great commitment to women's athletics
and in particular women's basketball.
And I'm just, I'm glad to be a part of it.
[cheering]
[Beth] A Lady Vol tradition she'd celebrate seven more times.
While most feared that icy stare,
it was Pat's warm, nurturing manner that resonated with players.
[Collier] She could be kicking your butt up here, and then...
over here she's, you know, hugging you and, you know, trying to take care of you.
[Warlick] The cameras always seemed to get her with her, you know, that stare.
But Pat has a great sense of humor,
and she has a genuine love for these, her players
and she's treat them like family.
[Beth] She truly cared about them
and never missed an opportunity to serve a home-cooked meal
or dole out life lessons.
So it's no surprise that perhaps her greatest role came naturally.
[Pat] Doin' fine.
[Beth] In 1990, she gave birth to Ross Tyler Summitt
after going into labor during an out-of-state recruiting visit.
Pat demanded the pilot fly her back to Knoxville
so her son would be born in Tennessee.
From then on, the two were inseparable.
With each championship win,
we watched Tyler grow,
always by his mother's side.
[cheering]
The '96 through '98 seasons were Pat's most successful years.
Three straight national titles capped off by a perfect season in '98,
39-0.
In 2005, Pat celebrated her 880th victory.
To her surprise, Tennessee renamed its court The Summitt,
one of two that bears Pat's name.
[Pat singing] Rocky Top, ain't no telephone bills...
[Beth] And it was on The Summitt in 2007
that the die-hard Vol proved she would go to great lengths to win,
even donning a cheerleading outfit to help Bruce Pearl's team upset Florida.
[Pat yelling]
[cheering]
[Beth] In 2009, 35 years after she first arrived in Knoxville,
Pat hit the four-digit milestone,
a thousand wins.
[cheering]
[Pat] Never ever did I think I would coach this long,
nor did I ever envision this program winning a thousand games.
[Beth] But life came to a screeching halt August 23, 2011.
[Pat] Earlier this year, the doctors at the Mayo Clinic
diagnosed me with an early-onset dementia,
Alzheimer's type.
[Beth] With Tyler by her side, Pat spoke with incredible courage.
An announcement at the age of 59,
that silenced the world of basketball and beyond.
[Pat] I'm going to keep fighting.
That's what I have done and what I want to continue to do.
[Beth] God had another plan for the coach.
She took this opponent head-on,
fighting back as the face of Alzheimer's.
[Pat] We're not gonna give up.
[cheering]
[Beth] At every arena, fan and foe backed Pat.
From social media...
[Pat] Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!
[cheering]
[Beth] ...to NASCAR,
the We Back Pat campaign went viral.
In November of that year,
Pat established the Pat Summitt Foundation,
which raises money for cutting-edge research.
[Pat] I just appreciate all the support
that we've had and we just got to keep fighting.
[Beth] Pat had hoped to coach three more seasons.
[Pat] I made some notes because this really means a lot to me to be here today.
[Beth] But April 18, 2012,
she stepped down as head coach of the Lady Vols, concluding her 38-year career.
Eight national championships.
32 combined Southeastern Conference titles.
31 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.
18 Final Four appearances.
1,098 wins to 208 losses.
Even more impressive,
her success measured by players.
12 Olympians.
[Announcer] Congratulations, Tamika!
[cheering]
[Beth] 34 WNBA players.
21 All-Americans.
39 All-SEC players.
100 percent graduation rate.
And at least 46 coaches.
Pat didn't just make her mark on the court.
She shared her name and talents with the community,
working with many organizations
including United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Juvenile Diabetes,
American Heart Association, the Lupus Foundation, and several domestic violence non-profits.
Pat often said, "If you hang with winners, you stand a great chance of being a winner."
Her life was certainly proof.
She received endless honors and accolades,
including multiple Coach of the Year nods, an honorary doctorate,
Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century,
and several Basketball Hall of Fame inductions.
Two tributes, though, certainly stand out.
In May 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Pat Summitt the Medal of Freedom.
It is the highest civilian honor in the nation.
[Obama] When the doctor first told Pat Summitt she suffered from dementia,
she almost punched him.
[laughter]
When a second doctor advised her retire,
she responded, "Do you know who you're dealing with here?"
[laughter]
Obviously, they did not.
As Pat says, "I can fix a tractor, mow hay, plow a field, chop tobacco, fire a barn, and call the cows."
"But what I'm really known for is winning."
[Beth] Two months later at the ESPYs,
the head coach emeritus received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award
with fellow Vol Peyton Manning giving the honor.
Her mark is hard to miss.
Pat Summitt's namesake is found on two division one basketball courts,
her high school gym, an NCAA room,
banners, two campus streets, and a bronze statue.
A name that will forever live on.
Daughter.
Mother.
Friend.
Coach.
Author.
Master motivator.
Role model.
Mentor.
And proud Tennessean.
Pat certainly reached her summit on and off the court,
and her legacy will forever stand tall.