Pat Summitt TOPICS: Athletics / Sports Coaching Motivation Inspiration FEE CATEGORY:* 50.0k to 75.0k TRAVELS FROM: Tennessee Profile Books & Videos Request This Speaker

Pat Summitt: Profile

Hall of Fame Women's Basketball Coach & Author

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers won an unprecedented third-straight NCAA championship. They finished the 1997-98 season with a 39-0 record, the best record ever recorded by an NCAA team, by either men or women. Rarely challenged throughout the season, this team is considered by many as the greatest women’s team of all time. It is no surprise that the team is coached by none other than Pat Summitt, a living legend, who said the 1997-98 Lady Vols gave her the most pleasurable coaching experience of her storied career.

Considered by many to be the best women's basketball coach in the history of the game, Summitt began her career at age 22 when she accepted the head-coaching job at the University of Tennessee.

In her first two years, she led the Lady Vols to 16 wins each season, and since then, Summitt has won 20 or more games each year. It is hard to imagine that this 45-year-old, with an overall record of 664-143 (.823), is already second only to Texas' Jody Conradt in number of career wins.

When it comes down to tournament time, no one prepares a team better than Summitt. She has a 61-11 (.847) postseason record and has guided the Lady Vols to 15 Final Fours, including six national championships, in her 24 seasons as head coach. She trails only legendary UCLA coach John Wooden in number of titles won.

Summitt has fared brilliantly in the court of international basketball as well. As a player, she won a silver medal in the 1976 Olympics. Only one year later, she was given the first U.S. Junior National team to coach, and she led it to two gold medals in international play.

She has coached U.S. national teams to victories in many international competitions, including the gold medal-winning 1984 Women’s Olympic basketball team. It seems like a natural progression for Summitt: outstanding player to outstanding coach, both collegiately and internationally.

In 1990, Summitt became the first female to receive the John Bunn Award, the most prestigious award given by the Basketball Hall of Fame. That same year she was inducted into the Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in New York City. Summitt has been named coach of the year many times by many different organizations. Her awards seem as endless as the games she has won.

In so many ways, she is more than a coach. To her athletes, Summitt is the perfect role model who instills a pattern of success in her players and constantly challenges them to reach their potential, not only as athletes but also as students.

To the University of Tennessee, she is a goodwill ambassador, taking her teams to play basketball in more than 40 states and two foreign countries. To the CEO of a corporation whose morale needs a lift, she is the perfect motivational speaker.

In February 1997, Summitt was honored at a White House luncheon given by Hillary Clinton recognizing the “25 Most Influential Working Mothers” as selected by Working Mother magazine.

She co-chaired the United Way Campaign in Knoxville in 1996 and is currently the athletic director at Tennessee. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Board of Directors of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

* Please note that while this speaker's specific fee falls within the range posted at the top of this page (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change without notice. Also note that most celebrity keynotes begin in the $25,000 and up range (most list "Contact for Fee Schedule"). For current fee information or international event fees, please contact your Speakers Platform representative.