Adams: Summitt is worth a celebration

Although it happened during the 1987-88 basketball season, it's still news. It's news because no one bothered reporting it 17 years ago.

That's right. UT's legendary women's basketball coach surpassed Alabama's legendary football coach in victories without so much as a note in your favorite morning newspaper. How could that happen?

Maybe it happened because no one compares college football to women's college basketball. After all, they are two different sports.

So are men's and women's basketball.

Former North Carolina coach Dean Smith won 879 games in men's basketball. That's one record. Summitt's 879 victories as a women's basketball coach is another record.

But I'm in the minority on this. So the hype will go on and on.

Never mind what the NCAA tournament bracket says. Tonight's second game at Thompson-Boling Arena won't be Tennessee vs. Purdue. It will be Summitt vs. Smith.

And Smith has as much chance as Purdue.

I'm setting the over-under at 242 on the number of times ESPN's announcers will say Summitt's name during tonight's telecast. If you're asking, "Why so low?" you must have watched ESPN's telecast of the UT-Western Carolina game Sunday night.

That wasn't a play-by-play telecast. It was a two-hour testimonial to Summitt.

And you know what? She deserved it.

She hasn't just won games and championships. She has created a program, and a market for it. She has elevated an entire sport.

When she began coaching 31 years ago, it was easier to win games than fans. Summitt pursued both with a passion.

She spoke to civic clubs with as few as six people in attendance and didn't regret a minute of it. After coaching the U.S. women's team in the 1984 Olympics, Summitt wanted to capitalize on the notoriety. She spoke three times a day to civic clubs.

"I did about 75 speeches (after the Olympics)," she said. "I'd do a breakfast, a lunch and dinner. I was going everywhere through the area.

"I was exhausted from the Olympics and all the travel. It was the only time in my whole career that I can remember struggling to go to practice."

She pushed through the fatigue, just as she overcame her shyness.

Summitt seems like a natural now in front of an audience or a microphone. Corporations pay big bucks to hear her speak; she's one of the best interviews in sports.

You would never guess that she was once terrified of public speaking.

Speech was a required course at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Summitt waited until the last semester of her senior year to take it.

"I was very shy," she said. "Speaking in front of people, I would be so nervous. That's why I guess I've surprised myself. But I did it out of what I thought was a necessity.

"I thought it was necessary to get people here. That was the one thing that I really wanted to happen. I really wanted to build a program. You don't just build it with players. You build it with the community support."

Summitt has built and maintained a program. She's still a relentless promoter and recruiter. And she attracts fans as well as players.

I was standing outside UT's hotel in New Orleans last March when a stranger asked if Summitt would be coming out soon. He said she made such a favorable impression when he met her at a dinner in New Orleans years before, he just wanted to say hello.

Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper said a sportswriter who covers her team was amazed at how attentive Summitt was during an interview last week. She made him feel important, he said.

Comparing the records of coaches in men's and women's basketball seems as irrelevant to me as comparing the records of football and basketball coaches. But there's also something very relevant about this evening.

It's an opportunity for all of the people that Summitt has impressed along the way to celebrate.

She might have spoken to their civic club or chaired their charity fundraiser. She might have made a lasting impression in an interview or a brief conversation.

She might have made them feel important.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.