Sum It Up by Pat Summitt

Pat Summitt: Amazing Coach
Remarkable Woman

Thanks goes to Lisa Hailey for recommending this memoire.

I was not familiar with Pat Summitt. I don't watch NBA basketball, nor do I watch college ball. Truth be known, I don't really know the difference between a basketball and a beachball. So coming to this book, I was entirely unfamiliar with the notoriety of this woman and her incredible dominance in the field of women's college basketball.


Here's a summary thanks to GoodReads.com:

Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women's basketball team. For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She has coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women's Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been named Sports Illustrated 'Sportswoman of the Year'. 

She owes her coaching success to her personal struggles and triumphs. She learned to be tough from her strict, demanding father. Motherhood taught her to balance that rigidity with communication and kindness. She is a role model for the many women she's coached; 74 of her players have become coaches. 

Pat's life took a shocking turn in 2011, when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible brain condition that affects 5 million Americans. Despite her devastating diagnosis, she led the Vols to win their sixteenth SEC championship in March 2012. Pat continues to be a fighter, facing this new challenge the way she's faced every other--with hard work, perseverance, and a sense of humor. 

Her accomplishments are too many to list, but here are a few highlights;

Pat Summitt is the most winning coach in the history of NCAA Division 1 college basketball, boasting 1098 victories from 1974 until 2012. Olympic Gold Medalist in 1976 games. Eight-time NCAA Championships, Seven-time NCAA Coach of the Year,  Named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century, Awarded the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, and the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Pat Summitt is a gritty, uncompromising coach. She admits that she would push her athletes beyond their personal limitations and bring out new levels of performance--the true role of a coach. She described how she would brake the individual players down, then rebuilt them to be better team players and stronger athletes. From the players perspectives (that pepper the memoire), in coaching them on the court, Pat Summitt taught them life skills, and help the players to do better in so many aspects of their lives. A true testament to Summitt's contribution to each player: 100% of her players graduated from University of Tennessee and 78 of her players went on to become teachers and coaches.

The autobiography itself was co-authored with Sally Jenkins, and is well written. Summitt admits that she has difficulty remembering day to day details, as a result of her suffering from early onset Alzheimer's which was diagnosed in 2011. However, she says that she remembers all of the people that have played a role in her life as a coach, and her memoire demonstrates this.

As a critique of the work, I would say that it's heavily laden with a litany of people and players, and because I don't know anyone from the sport, I found the endless list of people hard to track and somewhat confusing. With player turn over every year, I lost track of most of the players. Maybe if I was more familiar with the stars of NCAA, I would have tracked them more easily.

I would have liked more personal details on Pat's ongoing relationship with her family members, but perhaps this was covered in her previous work.

I commend the University of Tennessee for supporting and accommodating Summitt despite her health condition, and I wish that more employers were so generous to those employees who have been loyal contributors before diagnoses. Perhaps their treatment of Summitt and their willingness to provide ongoing support will serve as a bench mark for other institutions and private companies.

The most beautiful passage of the book was its final 3 lines.  Regardless of whether you believe in God, these words are beautiful. I wish Pat Summitt peace in her future, and when it's her time to fly, I hope she reaches her chosen destination. If anyone can, it would be Pat Summitt.