Area coaches had special connection with Pat Summitt

Pat Summitt’s historic career not only made Tennessee women’s basketball a household name, her influence marched out of Knoxville and destroyed any notion that a woman or a mother couldn’t succeed as a hardwood general.

Summitt died Tuesday at age 64. She led the Volunteers from 1974 until Alzheimer’s forced her to step down four years ago. She won 1,098 games, which is the most of any Division I basketball coach regardless of gender, and eight national titles.

Washington State coach June Daugherty battled Summitt in recruiting area players. The first two coaching books Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier read were written by Summitt.

And Eastern Washington coach Wendy Schuller got a rare moment with Summitt a couple years ago after early-onset Alzheimer’s disease had already forced her 2012 retirement from coaching.

Summitt was in a wheelchair, but she took the time to speak with Schuller’s son, who has Down syndrome.

“We were in a coffee shop and I went over to say hi. I thanked her,” Schuller said. “We talked a little bit. Probably the best thing to me and my most special memory is that she interacted and talked with my little guy. He gave his signature fist bump to her when he walked away. That will be something I will never forget.”

A perfectionist on the court, all three coaches marveled at how Summitt always seemed to find time for others.

“I’m never going to have a 1,000 wins,” Schuller said. “But I strive to be like her and have great relationships with my players and do the right things. As hard as she pushed her players, they knew that she cared immensely about them.

“She also showed me that you can be a mom and do this. You don’t have a lot of those role models out there. She was that for all of us, the Junes and the Lisas and us folks.”

At the end of Daugherty’s playing career, she attended a camp in the 1970s that featured Summitt.

“That day when she spoke at that camp, I’m sure my life changed at that point,” Daugherty said. “She had such a great message. She was such a great role model.”

Years later, after Daugherty became a head coach, she sometimes battled the legend in recruiting.

“Pat was always gracious with her time,” Daugherty said. “She was always asking about you and complimenting you on your career. She was always asking, ‘How can I help?’”

Summitt became even more familiar to women’s basketball fans in the Inland Northwest when she recruiting University High standout Angie Bjorklund. As a freshman, Bjorklund was a starter for Summitt’s last NCAA championship team at Tennessee in 2008.

Fortier was an assistant coach at Gonzaga when the Bulldogs twice played Summitt-led teams.

“I met her a couple of times,” Fortier said. “She was such a good example. She was one of the best coaches ever, male or female. She demanded excellence. But she was able to be tough and still be kind.

“That’s definitely my goal. We demand the best effort and making the right decisions and working hard. And, I want the players to know that I care more about them as people than I care about them as basketball players.”

Daugherty said Summitt’s last gift came from raising awareness to a disease that often can be worse on the loved ones than those who suffer the symptoms.

“I hope people remember the fight at the end, literally the fight for her life. She brought so much attention to dementia and Alzheimer’s,” Daugherty said. “Knowing what her family and closest friends were going through is heart breaking.

“Hopefully all of us can continue her battle until we find a cure.”