Summitt gets ovation, award at MSG
Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt talks to her team as it battles DePaul at Madison Square Garden. (Dec. 11, 2011) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
It seemed only fitting that Pat Summitt appeared at Madison Square Garden. Her career and very public battle against early- onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, deserved a New York ovation, and that is exactly what the Tennessee women's basketball coach received Sunday during the Maggie Dixon Classic.
"So many people respect Pat. We're honored to have her as our coach,'' Shekinna Stricklen said after her team's 84-61 win over DePaul. "People truly respect her, love her. The best thing we can do is go out there every day and play to our best to show her how much we really care for her and love her also.''
The resounding win for Tennessee (5-2) capped an exciting week for Summitt, who was presented the Maggie Dixon Award for Courage Sunday, a few days after delivering a short but moving acceptance speech in being honored as Sport Illustrated's Sportswoman of the Year.
"I'm glad I'm here,'' she said that evening. "Obviously, with my dementia, I'm obviously trying to do the best I can do every day to keep my mind sharp.''
She reflected on that evening in a video by Knoxville News.com, saying, "The one thing that came to my mind was all the Lady Vols that have played here and what an impact they have had. I've never made a basket; they've done it on their own.''
Associate head coach Holly Warlick, who handles the post-game interviews, said Summitt's message is "life isn't fair; it will happen to anyone. It so happened to be Pat Summit, so she's battling, making sure these kids understand you can function with the disease.''
Summitt spent most of the game against DePaul (8-2) in a familiar position: standing near the bench, arms folded, shouting instructions. Warlick said the assistants have been trained well by Summit but that she still runs the team, and added, "I will tell you this: Pat Summitt is the coach of the University of Tennessee. She still is coaching . . . She's still my boss. She reminds me when we practice. She goes, 'I'm still the boss, if you can remember that.' She's still leading us and still coaching this basketball team."
