Heidi Alexander: “today, the University of Tennessee, where I was once President, announced that our basketball coach, Pat Summitt, is…”

“today, the University of Tennessee, where I was once President, announced that our basketball coach, Pat Summitt, is resigning after 38 years in that position. Women's college basketball will never be the same without Pat Summitt and women's college basketball would not be the same were it not for Pat Summitt's 38 years of leadership. There will be much said about her winning record, and it is an astonishing accomplishment: 1,098 wins in basketball, more than any other coach, man or woman, in the sport; 8 national championships; in the Southeastern Conference, 32 Southeastern Conference titles, 31 straight trips to the NCAA tournament. But the statistic I always valued most, especially when I was president of the university, was every single one of Pat Summitt's athletes who have completed their eligibility with her have graduated from the University of Tennessee. That is over 38 years. So she has a remarkable record, for which we all are very grateful. It is hard for people outside Tennessee to understand how much Pat Summitt has become a part of the lives of so many citizens in our State. She actually was asked by the university to take over the basketball program when she was in her early twenties. This was in 1974. Back then, many women's basketball games were played with three women on one end and three women on the other end, offense and the defense. She changed all that in a big-time way.…”