The Big Orange TipOff Club secured Pat Summitt as its featured speaker last Wednesday.

And while she didn't have much time to talk, due to her scheduled team practice, Summitt did tease University of Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl for getting ejected from his son's high school game. She jeered UT president Dr. John Petersen for formerly working at the University of Connecticut.

But after all that was over, she sincerely opened with these words:

"I am delighted to be your coach and want to thank all of you in this room for all you've done for the University of Tennessee and for all of our sports."

I was in the room. That means she thanked me for all I'd done for the program.

Am I the biggest Lady Vols fan? Not really.

Have I monetarily donated to the university? I'm broke as a joke.

What have I done? I'm about to tell you. It's a story that's been hidden inside me for seven years.

Rewind your mind back to the spring of 1999.

The Lady Vols basketball team was after its fourth consecutive NCAA title. With star Chamique Holdsclaw at the top of her game, Tennessee looked to be a shoo-in for title No. 4.

But single-handedly, I almost ended Holdsclaw's career and the Tennessee title run (which came up short anyway.)

What a lucky February day I was having.

I actually got to park close to where my class was, a rarity on the UT campus.

On Volunteer Boulevard and directly in front of the Music Building, I parked my silver Toyota Camry (the "Silver Bullet" as it was known then).

I was about to attend my all-time favorite college class - History of Rock 'n' Roll.

I sat through the entire class and didn't skip out early. When the class ended, all the students began their 15-minute hikes to either their cars or their next class.

Not me.

My car was right out front and directly across from the Stokely Athletics Center, where the women's basketball team practiced.

Lucky me.

I switched on my left-turn signal. Checked my mirror. No cars coming. No one had reached his or her cars yet. Long walks. Remember?

I pulled out onto Volunteer safely and approached the crosswalk at the intersection of Volunteer and Pat Head Summitt Street (oh, the irony.)

Other lucky cars parked on the side of the street blocked my view from approaching pedestrians.

As I neared the crosswalk - and pedestrians have the right of way on campus - a host of girls donning gray sweat suits stepped onto the street.

With my Jedi-knight-like reflexes, I slammed on the brakes.

I wasn't speeding, but my car slid. My eyes closed for fear of the impending accident.

My car stopped. No "thump" or "crack" was heard.

Shaking, I opened my eyes, and there, no more than two inches from the front of the "Silver Bullet," was Holdsclaw.

Little did I know that she, teammate Tamika Catchings and another young lady had scored a few ice cream scoops at the Presidential Courtyard, which is a few blocks from Stokely and the Music Building, and were on their way to Stokely.

The UT legend's mouth was agape, and her ice cream cone was an inch from her mouth. She was about to devour it, just like my front bumper was about to inhale her legs.

But I had stopped in time.

She, emotionless face and all, stared at me. I stared back, hands still firmly grasping the wheel. Two seconds later, the Lady Vols were back on their way. Their legacy, and legs, still intact.

My legacy at UT, not that I had one, was almost Bill Buckner-esque. I was almost the Steve Bartman of Knoxville.

Every Lady Vol and Summitt fan from here to San Jose would be sending me hate mail and threatening my very being. I likely would have been exiled from my home state into and sent into some Canadian-based witness protection program.

But thankfully I went from goat to hero - in my mind, anyway.

What a lucky day.

So, when Summitt issued her thanks to those in the room at Calhoun's on the River, I couldn't help but think of the day on Volunteer.

Did she know about what I had done and almost did for her program? No.

Nevertheless, Summitt thanked me, sort of, for my efforts in 1999.

No problem, coach.

TipOff Club: Former Auburn coach Sonny Smith will be the featured speaker at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Tickets cost $10 for members and $15 for non-members.

Tickets for the March 1 event at The Foundry are still available.

NBA Hall of Fame member Gail Goodrich will be the guest speaker. The event starts at 6 p.m.

Go to utfan.com/tipoff for more information.

Have a sports-related topic or question and want it answered? Send it to Jesse Smithey at corner@knews.com.