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Biography of Pat Summitt and Women's Basketball 1980-1989
1980
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| 1979-1980 Lady Vols Jill Rankin C SR
Holly Warlick G SR
Becky Clark G FR
Cindy Noble C JR
Susan Clower G SO
Kathy O'Neil F SR
Susan Foulds F JR
Lea Henry F FR
Bev Curtiss F FR
Debbie Groover F JR
Cindy Ely G JR |
1980-1981 Lady Vols
Susan Foulds F SR
Mary Ostrowski F/G FR
Pat Hatmaker G FR
Mina Todd G FR
Tanya Haave F/G FR
Cindy Noble C SR
Susan Clower G JR
Lynne Collins F FR
Lea Henry G SO
Paula Towns F FR
Debbie Groover F SR
CIndy Ely G SR
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In 1980, Pat Summitt, aged 38, was named assistant coach to Sue Gunter on the U.S. National Team. Unfortunately, the United States boycotted the Games because they were held in Moscow, and Moscow had invaded Afghanisan the year before. However, the team did capture the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament title. Nancy Lieberman, age 22, was a member of the team.
Jody Conradt of the Texas Longhorns wins National Coach of the Year honors.
Nancy Lieberman of Old Dominion wins the Wade Trophy for Collegiate Player of the Year, for the second straight year. It is the third year of the award. She will be the only player to do it twice until Seimne Augustsus from 2005 and 2006.
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1980 AIAW Championship
Old Dominion defeated Tennessee 68-53
The Women's Basketball League was formed in 1978 (not 1980 as Extraodinary Women Athletes, says. This book states that in 1980 Nancy Lieberman, dubbed "Lady Magic," leads her team to the playoffs. Lieberman has dropped out of college to join this professional team. However, the WBL will fold "due to lack of support" in the spring of 1981.
MARRIAGE
Pat had met R. B. Summitt around 1976, when they'd been introduced through Pat's roommate, Marcia McGregor, a bank examiner. (Summitt was also a bank examiner at this time.) After 3 and a half years, they got married in 1980.
1981
Pat's Lady Vols played their Final Four game against Old Dominion (coached by Marianne Stanley.) Pat learned a lesson in this game, about evaluating her players and knowing who would want the ball in pressure situations. Her point guard, whom she had expected to want the ball at those times, in this game, did not.
Lynette Woodard of Kansas wins the Wade Trophy, in its 4th year of existence.
The WBL folds after 4 years.
1981 AIAW Championship
Louisiana Tech defeated Tennessee 79-59. The game took place in Eugene, Oregon.
1982
In August 1982, Summitt was named the 1984 U.S. Women's Olympic basketball coach. She will coach the 1983 World Championship team to a silver medal finish.
Pam Kelly of Louisiana Tech wins the Wade Trophy, in its 5th year of existence.
1982 AIAW Championship
Rutgers defeated Texas 83-77. This was the last championship sponsored by the AIAW, who lost their best teams to the NCAA, including Tennessee. |
1981-1982 Lady Vols
Mary Ostrowski F SO
Gina Bozeman G FR
Pat Hatmaker G SO
Shelia Collins G/F FR
Susan Clower G SR
Linda Ray F FR
Lynne Collins F SO
Lea Henry G JR
Tanya Haave F SO
Sonya Cannon F FR
Tammy Larkey C FR
Paula Towns C SO
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The NCAA had a budget of 20 million dollars, the AIAW of one million, and although many members of the AIAW protested, they could do nothing to stop the NCAA takeover of collegiate women's sports.
The NCAA brought in dozens more pages of paperwork and rules to follow - which continue to change and escalate to this day.
1982-1983 Lady Vols
Pam Marr G FR
Mary Ostrowski F JR
Pat Hatmaker G JR
Shelia Collins G/F SO
Linda Ray F SO
Lynne Collins F JR
Pam Cook G FR
Lea Henry G SR
Tanya Haave F JR
Karen Morton C FR
Sonya Cannon F SO
Tammy Larkey C SO
Paula Towns C JR |
1983-1984 Lady Vols
Pam Marr G SO
Mary Ostrowski F SR
Kristie Snyder G SO
Shelley Sexton G FR
Pat Hatmaker G SR
Shelia Collins G JR
Lisa Webb F FR
Linda Ray F JR
Lynne Collins F SR
Valerie Freeman F FR
Cheryl Littlejohn C FR
Tanya Haave F SR
Sonya Cannon F JR
AMy Gamble F FR
Paula Towns C SR |
The Lady Vols played Southern California in the regional finals for the right to go to the NCAA Final Four in Norfolk. They beat them 91-90.
March 28, 1982: 1st NCAA Championship
Louisiana Tech defeated Cheyney State (coached by C. Vivian Stringer) 76-62.
This was the first year that the NCAA sponsored the College Women's Basketball championship. The game took place at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, VA.
1983
LaTaunya Pollard of Long beach State wins the Wade Trophy, in its 6th year of existence.
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April 3, 193: NCAA Championship Game
Southern California (USC) beat Louisiana Tech, 69-67. The game took place at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, VA.
Members of the Southern California team include Cynthia Cooper and Cheryl Miller.
Pat's Coaching Continues to Mature
"At Tenneesee, we use a system called Rebound and Two Points. We came up with it in 1984, and we have used it ever since. The reason we invented it was because we had players on the team who were very sensitive to criticism, no matter how constructive. They felt I was too negative. And maybe I was. It seemed like whatever I said crushed them....
I had another dilemma as well. I was to coach the Olympic team in the Los Angeles games that summer. The Olympic team was made up of players who were not accustomed to my agressive verbal style. I needed a way to soften my tone.
R.B. (her husband) is the one who really came up with the system....Anytime a Lady Vol got a compliment from me, she had to say, "Two points." If I criticized her, she had to yell out "Rebound!" It forced her to keep score in her mind, to count compliments.
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1984-1985 Lady Vols
Dawn Marsh G FR
Pam Marr G JR
Kathy Spinks F FR
Sherry Bostic F FR
Shelley Sexton G SO
Shelia Collins G SR
Jennifier Tuggle F FR
Lisa Webb F SO
Linda Ray F SR
Valerie Freeman F SO
Cheryl Littlejohn C SO
SOnya Cannon F SR
Amy Gramble F SO
Karla Horton C FR
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1984
Jody Conradt of the Texas Longhorns wins National Coach of the Year honors.
Janice Lawrence of Louisiana Tech wins the Wade Trophy, in its 7th year of existence.
April 1, 1984: NCAA Championship Game
Southern California beat Tennessee 72-61. The game took place at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.
For their back-to-back NCAA wins, members of the Southern California team again included Cynthia Cooper and Cheryl Miller.
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics took place in Los Angeles, CA from July 28 to August 12. In revenge for the US-led boycott of the 1980 summer Olympics that took place in Moscow, Russia led a boycott of these Olympics. The US women's basketball squad coached by Pat Summitt won the gold medal. South Korea won the silver and China the bronze.
"That job," [coach of the 1984 team] "aged me years. I've never had anything stress me like that. For two-and-a-half years, not a day went by that I didn't think about the Olympics... We couldn't have asked for better talent. It was an all-star collection. My main concern was not to over-coach and to get those young women to play together."
In 1984, Nancy Lieberman signed with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's American Basketball League, for $60,000 a year. This was a "fall league." According to The Association For Professional Basketball research, it was founded by Bill Byrne,in hopes of cashing
in on the USA Olympic team's success in Los Angeles in 1984. While some
talented players played in the league (including Nancy Lieberman, Molly Bolin,
Pam McGee and Paula McGee) most of the league's teams folded during the season.
1985
Mickie DeMoss and Holly Warlick joined Tennessee as assistant coaches. Summitt's assistant Nancy Darsch had left to go to the WNBA, where she coached the New York Liberty for one season. (As of 2007, she is a scout for the Minnesota Lynx.)
Cheryl Miller of USC wins the Wade Trophy, in its 8th year of existence.
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March 31, 1985: NCAA Championship Game
Old Dominion beat Georgia 70-65. The game took place at the Georgia Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
1986
"It is crucial in the game of basketball to known when to peak," Summitt comments. "I learned my lesson once and for all at the 1986 Final Four in Lexington...
On the day befoe our national semifinal game against Southern California, we practiced in Rupp Arena in front of a huge crowd. This was the first time, in an effort to stir up excitement, that the NCAA opened practices to fans and the press...because of all the people in the stands, I felt like we had to put on a show.
...I knew we had done too much. It was entirely my fault that we came out flat as a board against Southern Cal. We lost, 83-59.
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Jody Conradt wins National Coach of the Year honors.
Kamie Ethridge of Texas wins the Wade Trophy, in its 9th year of existence.
March 30, 1986: NCAA Championship Gamr
Texas beat Southern California 97-81. The game took place at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Texas Lady Longhorns, coached by Jody Conradt, had gone 34-0 in this season - the first women's team in history to go undefeated. And then they won the National Championship.
In 1986, the male United States Basketball league drafted Nancy Lieberman to play for the Springfield Fame. The USBL had been formed in 1985, and has fielded teams in every year except 1989. The Springfield Flame lasted only from 1985-1986.
1985-1986 Lady Vols
Dawn Marsh G SO
Pam Marr G SO
Kathy Spinks C SO
Sheila Frost C FR
Sherry Bostic G/F SO
Shelley Sexton G JR
Bridgette Gordon F FR
Jennifer Tuggle F SO
Lisa Webb F/C JR
Melissa McCray G/F FR
Valerie Freeman F JR
Cheryl Littlejohn C JR
Lesia Cecil G FR
Karla Horton C SO
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1986-1987 Lady Vols
Dawn Marsh G JR
Kathy Spinks F/C JR
Sheila Frost C SO
Shelley Sexton G SR
Carla McGhee F FR
Bridgette Gordon F SO
Jennifer Tuggle F SO
Tonya Edwards G FR
Lisa Webb F JR
Melissa McCray G/F SO
Sabrina Mott G FR
Cheryl Littlejohn C SR
Karla Horton
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1987-1988 Lady Vols
Dawn Marsh G SR
Kathy Spinks C SR
Sheila Frost C JR
Gay Townson F JR
Kris Durham G FR
Carla McGhee F SO
Bridgette Gordon F JR
Jennifer Tuggle F JR
Tonya Edwards G SO
Lisa Webb F SR
Melissa McCray G/F JR
Pearl Moore F FR |
1988-1989 Lady Vols
Regina Clark G FR
Dena Head G FR
Sheila Frost C SR
Kris Durham G SO
Carla McGhee C/F SO
Bridgette Gordon F SR
Daedra Charles C SO
Tonya Edwards G JR
Kelli Casteel F FR
Melissa McCray G SR
Pearl Moore C SO
Debbie Scott F FR
Debbie Hawhee F FR |
1987
Jody Conradt was the coach of the U.S. National Team, and her squad won the gold medal at the Pan American Games.
After 14 years of coaching, Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols wins its first National Championship. They?d reached the Final Four 7 times from 1974-1986, and lost each time.
"Perhaps the best role-playing team we've ever had at Tennessee was our 1987 squad... People forget that there was not a single All American on that team... We were only ranked No. 7 in the country. We had the worst record in the Final Four, at 26-6. We had to go up against Long Beach State, and their All American Cindy Brown, which was the highest scoring team in the nation, and then Louisiana Tech, with Tersea Witherspoon. Nobody had any respect for us. ... Cindy Brown called us "those corn-fed chicks from Tennessee."
The Naismith College Coach of the Year award is inaugerated. Bob Knight of Indiana wins on the men's side, Pat Summitt wins on the women's side.
Shelly Pennefeather of Villanova wins the Wade Trophy, in its 10th year of existence.
| March 29, 1987: NCAA Championship Game
Tennessee beat Louisiana Tech 67-44. The game took place at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. (FIRST)
1988
Leon Barmore of Louisiana Tech wins the Naismith College Coach of the Year Award in its 2nd year of existence.
Teresa Weatherspoon of Louisiana Tech wins the Wade Trophy, in its 11th year of existence.
April 3, 1988: NCAA Championship Game
Louisiana Tech beat Auburn 56-54. The game took place at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington.
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1989-1990 Lady Vols
Jody Adams G FR
Regina Clark G SO
Dena Head G SO
Lisa Harrison F FR
Carla McGhee F/C JR
Daedra Charles C JR
Tonya Edwards G SR
Kelli Casteel C SO
Pearl Moore C SO
Melissa Smith F/C FR
Debbie scott F SO
Debbie Hawhee F SO |
The 1988 Olympics takes place in Seoul, South Korea. Members of the American women's team include Cynthia Cooper, Teresa Edwards and Ann Donovan. They win a gold medal.
1989
Pat Summitt wins the Naismith College Coach of the Year Award in its 3rd year of existence, for the 2nd time.
Clarissa Davis of Texas wins the Wade Trophy, in its 12th year of existence.
April 2, 1989: NCAA Championship Game
Tennessee beat Auburn 76-70. The game took place at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. (SECOND)
Bibliography
Reach For the Summitt, Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins. 1998. Broadway Books.
Raise the Roof, Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins. 1998. Broadway Books.
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