Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is in her seventh year as chief executive officer of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.
In the world of high school and college sports, March is one of best times of the year. Basketball is center stage – from the 136 men’s and women’s college teams trying to reach their respective Final Fours, to the more than 500 girls and boys high school teams vying for state championships.
While there is almost equal attention given to the NCAA Women’s Final Four these days – as well as many of the girls state high school championships – that has not always been the case. As hundreds of thousands of female athletes and coaches experience these once-in-a-lifetime moments, it is a great opportunity to celebrate the legacy of individuals who set the stage for the game’s popularity today.
The passage of Title IX of the Educational Amendments in 1972 opened the door for girls, and the scene began to change dramatically in the years that followed. As the sport of basketball moved to the five-on-five game across the country and grew in popularity through the 1980s and 1990s and into the 20th century, there were key leaders who drove the sport to new heights – at the high school and college levels.
Arguably at the top of that list is the late Pat Summitt, the iconic women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee for 38 years. She took the job as a 22-year-old in 1974 and coached until 2012, when she retired due to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, which eventually took her life in 2016. In 38 years, Summitt won 1,098 games, 32 Southeastern Conference titles and eight NCAA championships.
In the first 30 years of the post-Title IX era, it is hard to imagine that anyone had more influence on the sport of women’s basketball at all levels than Pat Summitt – both from a participatory and coaching standpoint. Many girls dreamed of playing for Summitt, and a number of those who were so fortunate played beyond college or were inspired to become coaches themselves – at the high school and college levels.
Among those players who went on to stellar professional careers were Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker and Chamique Holdsclaw – all of whom won WNBA titles, MVP awards and many other accolades. When Catchings was inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame in 2023, she noted in her acceptance speech that Summitt kept her humble and was the greatest coach she ever had.
Many others who played for Summitt became coaches themselves and continue to carry on her legacy. At the time of her retirement in 2012, 78 people who were mentored by Summitt were coaching basketball or working in administrative positions associated with the game. Among those proteges are Kara Lawson (head coach) and Kyra Elzy (assistant coach) at Duke University; Nikki Fargas, former LSU women’s coach; and Kellie Harper, women’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri. Another notable Summitt alum is the late Nikki McCray-Penson, a member of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame who coached at Mississippi State prior to her death in 2023.
In 2021, the Columbus (Mississippi) Dispatch noted that during the past 45 years, 63 of Summitt’s former players have coached at the high school, collegiate or professional levels of basketball, and as of four years ago, 24 of those players were still coaching.
Certainly, Pat Summitt was a winner at all levels, but more important was the leadership and guidance afforded to all who crossed her path. From the history of women’s basketball the past 50 years, the respect and admiration for Summitt would be somewhat akin to the legendary John Wooden on the men’s side.
And like Wooden’s famous Pyramid of Success, Summitt left all future coaches “The Definite Dozen,” her list of rules for success that she viewed as fundamental to leadership excellence. The list starts with “Respect Yourself and Others” and concludes with “Handle Success Like You Handle Failure,” in which she says “you can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you handle it . . .”
Not only does Summitt’s leadership carry on through the development of players and coaches, but the establishment of the Pat Summitt Foundation prior to her death continues the quest to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
When Summitt found out she had early onset dementia, she reacted like anyone would with anger, tears and sadness. But then she did what made her an icon. She followed her own mantra: left foot, right foot, breathe. Summitt, along with her son, Tyler Summitt, formed the Pat Summitt Foundation in the fall of 2011, just a few weeks after the August 2011 public announcement that she had Alzheimer’s disease. As she told her Tennessee players about the diagnosis, they reacted with shock, confusion and tears. Lady Vols senior Vicki Baugh stood up and said: “Pat, we’ve got your back.” And with those words, “We Back Pat” became a movement.
Not only did Summitt become the gold standard for women’s basketball but also for leadership, the empowerment of women and the fight to cure the dreaded disease of Alzheimer’s.
