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Grand Victory For Pat Summitt

The Associated Press

Tennessee's Pat Summitt addresses the crowd in Knoxville after the Vols' win over Oklahoma on Thursday night.

By TERESA M. WALKER

The Associated Press

Published: February 6, 2009

Updated: 02/06/2009 08:14 am

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Pat Summitt now has 1,000 victories, an unprecedented height even she finds dizzying.

"It's a hard number to even comprehend," the Tennessee coach said.

Summitt became the first Division I basketball coach - men's or women's - to win 1,000 career games Thursday night as her 12th-ranked Lady Vols beat Georgia 73-43. It was their second chance in four days at giving their coach her latest and one of her greatest milestones.

These baby Lady Vols (17-5, 6-2 Southeastern Conference), with seven freshmen on the roster, are nothing like the squads that brought Summitt her seventh and eighth national championships in the previous two seasons. This is an inexperienced group that had Summitt joking about whether they would even be up to the task of winning the 17 games she needed to reach 1,000 this season.

The landmark win came on the court named for Summitt, who just keeps racking up achievements for others to chase. All the fans in the arena began standing with about a minute left, and they clapped to "Rocky Top" as orange and white streamers fell from the ceiling.

Summitt gave Georgia coach Andy Landers a hug on the sideline.

The Lady Vols were given T-shirts with the number "1000" on the front in orange, which they pulled on before a celebration on court as school officials gave Summitt a bracelet, necklace and painting to commemorate this historic win. Summitt became emotional as she talked.

"I feel like I've been extremely blessed, and I thank God for the many opportunities I've had to be your coach and work with these young ladies, and so I want to thank all of you. I want to thank every person who's been a part of my staff. ... They gave their absolute best," Summitt said.

After the game it was announced Summitt has signed a contract extension that will keep her at Tennessee through 2014, which would be her 40th season as Lady Vols coach.

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