Pat Summitt’s coaching tree keeps adding branches

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The arena was filled with 11,000 fans and decorated with eight championship banners. Playing at Tennessee was difficult enough for Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper. And then she looked down the court and caught sight of her former coach, one of the greats of college basketball, Pat Summit. “Sometimes it’s a little surreal and you look down at the other end of the court and you realize your coach is down there," said Harper, who was a Lady Vol from 1995-99. Harper, remembered by Tennessee fans as point guard Kellie Jolly, is part of a Summitt coaching tree that has spread across the country at all levels of competition. Summitt has 70 former players, assistant coaches, operations directors, graduate assistants or team managers coaching basketball. By the end of the 2008-09 regular season, she will have faced 11 of them as opposing head coaches or assistants. They’ve touched every level of women’s basketball, from the WNBA to major college programs and junior colleges down to the high school level. Zandra Montgomery Morris, who played in Summitt’s early years as coach, even spent time in charge of the Cleveland (Tenn.) High School boys basketball team. Harper’s Catamounts didn’t manage to knock off her mentor’s Lady Vols on Nov. 25, losing 83-56. Former Lady Vol Tanya Haave wasn’t successful either. Her San Francisco Dons lost 68-36 in the season opener on Nov. 15. In fact, no former Tennessee player has ever beaten the 56-year-old Summitt. Three assistants have: Carolyn Peck was the first, with a win in 1998 at Purdue. Mickie DeMoss got a win as Kentucky head coach and another last weekend as a Texas assistant, and Sylvia Hatchell has done it twice at North Carolina. Summitt says there’s a reason Lady Vols make good coaches. “I think players that go through this program are just passionate about the game," the Hall of Fame coach said. “I think they leave here feeling like they have knowledge of the game and the skills to teach, as well as to motivate. It’s just a matter of if that’s what they want to pursue is a coaching profession." It’s a testament to the way Summitt coaches, relishing her role as a teacher. As Tennessee associate coach Holly Warlick, also a former Lady Vol, says, “We don’t want to just tell you you’ve got to do it, we want to say why you’ve got to do it." Players have also gotten accustomed to success under Summitt. Tennessee’s eight national titles have all come during her 35-year tenure, meaning many Lady Vols have a championship ring and almost all have played in the Final Four. No NCAA basketball coach has won more games than Summitt, and she is less than 10 games from reaching 1,000 wins. And they don’t lose Summitt as a mentor when they leave Tennessee. Many check in with her on a regular basis. Nikki Caldwell, the former Tennessee player and assistant coach who took over UCLA this season called Summitt last week to chat for a while. “Usually, a lot of times they’ll call and they want to say, ‘OK, here’s a situation and I want to get your opinion on it.’ That’s all it is, it’s an opinion. They can do with it what they want," Summitt said. Harper, who helped a few of her Western Carolina players score an interview with Summitt for a podcast, has adopted Summitt’s coaching philosophy, including the way she handles her players on the court. “I’ve tried to imitate that same poise. It’s something you have to work on," she said. Haave and her assistant, former Lady Vol Abby Conklin, got their picture taken before the San Francisco game with Summitt and then stayed after it was over to talk to her about their team. “Rarely will you be happy with a 30-point loss, but you have to be realistic," Haave said. “To come back here to Tennessee and play in Thompson-Boling is really special." It can also be a little weird for Summitt and Warlick when they look to the other end of the court and see former teammates in coaching roles. “Sometimes it feels a little awkward or difficult because outside of playing us, you want all Lady Vols to win," Warlick said. The feeling is mutual. The Final Four has become a sort of family reunion for the Summitt coaching tree. Many members of the family come to watch the cream of women’s basketball play, and nearly all of them show up in their Tennessee orange and white. “Once you’re a Lady Vol, you’re always a Lady Vol," Harper said. – AP