{"id":2716,"date":"2016-06-28T16:52:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T21:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=2716"},"modified":"2017-07-08T13:10:14","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T18:10:14","slug":"pat-summitt-the-best-there-ever-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=2716","title":{"rendered":"Pat Summitt-The Best there ever was…"},"content":{"rendered":"
I would be amiss if I didn\u2019t say something about the passing of Pat Summitt, the fabulous women\u2019s basketball coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers<\/span>.\u00a0 Some might not know it but I am a women\u2019s basketball fan, cutting my teeth watching small college women\u2019s\u00a0basketball in my home state of Oklahoma, where three of the greatest small college programs in the history of female\u00a0hoops are located.\u00a0 Southwestern Oklahoma State<\/span> (Weatherford), Southern Nazarene<\/span> University<\/span> (Bethany), and\u00a0my alma mater, Oklahoma City University<\/span> (Oklahoma City) are the gold standard in the NAIA with OCU having won a record eight titles, SNU one behind with seven, and SWOSU with five.\u00a0 Of the 36 total National Championships in the NAIA, those three schools have won twenty.\u00a0 For one state to dominate a college sport at a particular level is unheard of.\u00a0 So when I give my recognition of Coach Summit at Tennessee, I come with some knowledge of the women\u2019s game, watching hundreds of contests at the small college level, to go with the many times I have been in the arena to watch the Oklahoma Sooners<\/span> female team, under Hall-of-Fame head coach Sherri Coale, against the best of the Big 12\u00a0Conference and nationally ranked opponents that have visited the Lloyd Noble Arena in Norman.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Pat Summitt passed away today after\u00a0a sudden downgrade of her\u00a0illness of early\u00a0onset dementia (Alzheimer\u2019s) at age 64. The legendary\u00a0Tennessee coach won eight national championships with the Lady Volunteers with 1,098 wins as a head coach in 38 seasons.\u00a0 She was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

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I for one, consider Pat Summitt one of\u00a0the greatest basketball coaches of All-time, men or women\u2019s game. She\u00a0was far better than most of our noted staples, and was at the level of John Wooden as a winner.\u00a0That is the one\u00a0men\u2019s coach I would compare her to.\u00a0For what she has accomplished, none better. \u00a0As for coaching\u00a0in the women\u2019s game, she was, with\u00a0question, the best in her profession. \u00a0Sure some might consider that wonderful coach at UConn<\/span> as their greatest, but not me.\u00a0 I respect history, and maybe one day,\u00a0Geno Auriemma\u00a0will pass her in my rankings. But on this day, in 2016, not on my life.\u00a0 RIP Coach.\u00a0 You were and still are the best there ever was.<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

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I would be amiss if I didn\u2019t say something about the passing of Pat Summitt,…<\/p>\n

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