Chasing 1,000: As latest milestone nears, Summitt's focus remains same

Photo by Saul Young

Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt smiles during a press conference prior to the national championship game last April in Tampa, FL. The Lady Vols beat Stanford 64-48 on April 8 for UT's eighth title.

Pat Summitt on greatest century milestone

How much did it really take, coach Pat Summitt, to get so many wins?

How many sacrifices? How much sweat? How much drive? How much patience? How many times did you slice a player with your famous stare? Or lift her spirits with a hug? How many little setbacks and triumphs line the path of your life?

And, yes, Coach, how many tears?

Whatever the answers, the University of Tennessee women's basketball team has a different list of things to reflect on as she closes in on win No. 1,000.

"I just think about all of the players who came through here," she said. "It's always been about the student-athletes. They are family to me. The (1,000) milestone really belongs to all of the players and assistant coaches who have made their mark on the program."

In a way, the 1,000 mark is a belated symbol.

Since March 22, 2005, when she reached No. 880, she has been the NCAA's winningest college basketball coach, man or woman.

Summitt doesn't say very much about the approaching milestone. Ask her about it, she drops back into what sports writers call "coachspeak."

"We haven't even talked about that," she will say. "Right now, I just want us to become a 40-minute team. I don't want them focusing on a number. I want them to focus on getting ready for March Madness. And we are a long way from being that 40-minute team."

Summitt is at 998. The Lady Vols play at Auburn today and play host to Ole Miss on Thursday.

When No. 1,000 does arrive, the only senior on this season's team, Alex Fuller, will join a small group of Lady Vols - those who have given their coach two century-mark wins.

Fuller, 6-feet-3 and soft spoken, was a freshman on the 2005-06 team for Summitt's 900th win, 80-68 over Vanderbilt in Nashville.

"I was just happy to be a part of that day in history," said Fuller.

She said that she and her teammates are well aware of how close the 1,000-win milestone is, but they are following Summitt's lead in staying focused.

"One game at a time," Fuller said. "But we all know it's coming."

Photo by News Sentinel

Former Tennessee player Carla McGhee, middle, cheers from the bench during a 1987 game.

Plaudits for the coach

The charter members of the elite club that Fuller is about to join are Carla McGhee and Tonya Edwards.

According to team rosters in the Lady Vols media guide, the only others are Pashen Thompson and Abby Conklin (500th and 600th); LaShonda Stephens, Niya Butts and Kyra Elzy (600th and 700th); Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson (700th and 800th); Shanna Zolman and Tye'sha Fluker (800th and 900th).

McGhee and Edwards were freshmen on the 1986-87 "Corn Fed Chicks" team that gave Summitt her 300th, win and then her first national championship. Then McGhee was so seriously injured in a car wreck that she had to leave school for a while to recover.

"The initial verdict was that I was not going to be able to play basketball again," McGhee said. "I will always remember the first thing Pat said to me about that: 'I don't care if you never play again, but you are going to get that degree.' She was so very supportive."

Photo by News Sentinel

University of Tennessee head coch Pat Summitt celebrates after the Lady Vols won the Women's NCAA National Championship 67-44 against Louisiana Tech on March 29, 1987, in Austin, Texas. The victory earned the Lady Vols their first national championship.

In 1989, McGhee and Edwards helped Summitt win a second national championship, and in 1990 they helped bring their coach her 400th win.

McGhee said the two national titles - and a loss to Virginia that kept the Lady Vols out of the 1990 Final Four in Knoxville - overshadow her memories of the 300th and 400th wins for Summitt.

"I really don't remember a whole lot about those two wins," said McGhee, who is an assistant coach at South Carolina. But as for Summitt getting ready to rack up No. 1,000, "I'm not surprised. I pretty much expect her to continue to set the bar in women's basketball, and to have all of these milestones in her career. Her picture ought to be in Webster's Dictionary beside the word 'success.' And I can't think of a better person for this to happen to."

The 1989 team that brought home win No. 400 included Daedra Charles Furlow, who will be a part of No. 1,000 as one of Summitt's assistant coaches.

"One thousand wins, that's just huge," she said. "That's history, like Barack Obama being president. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this. We don't know when we're going to get it. But it's going to be really exciting."

When Fuller talks about what Summitt means to her, her words echo those of the players who have gone before her and will come after.

"She is my role model," Fuller said. "I look to her for advice in life, not just in basketball. If it was not for her, I would probably not be doing what I am now."

McGhee said when she arrived at UT as a freshman, she was "immature and undisciplined," and that Summitt's tutelage brought her maturity, focus and poise. McGhee says she strives to instill in her players the things that Summitt instilled in her.

"If I can touch just one-third of the players that Pat has, and touch them as she has, then I know I will have been successful," McGhee said.

Jim Balloch can be reached at 865-342-6315.