Women's Game Needs Pat Summit example essay topic

The day after Univ. of Tennessee's Pat Summit eclipsed North Carolina's Dean Smith for most career wins by a Division I Head Basketball Coach some suggested that she would be a good choice to lead the Vols' men's squad. UT has since hired a male coach. Yet we are still left with the question of whether Summit should be considered for, or accept any such job. The 800-pound gorilla in this argument is whether Summit deserves to lay claim to the title as 'all-time winning est Division I basketball coach. ' In a purely statistical sense, she does. But comparing the women's and men's games is like comparing, well, women and men.

They " re completely different. Sada haru Oh hit more home runs than Hank Aaron, but nobody would say the two men are comparable, since Oh played in Japan, and Aaron played in the U.S. John Gagliardi won more football games than Bobby Bowden. Again, a difference: Gagliardi coached in Division, while Bowden spent most of his time in the I-A rank. And Summit has more wins than Smith. But we " re talking about two different sports.

Not better or worse, different. Smith is the men's wins champion, and Summit holds the women's title; two different sports, two different leaders. The reason Summit shouldn't consider taking the men's job is that she could end up damaging the women's game by doing so. She is a giant in her sport, the most successful coach ever and the builder of the program every other school wants to emulate.

If she were to take over the UT men's team and not win big, there would be joy among those who consider women's college basketball inferior. Summit has never recruited men's players. She would have to build a new network of high school and AAU contacts to help funnel her players. She would have to deal with prep stars who believe their next dribble should be for NBA millions, not collegiate glory.

That doesn't exist (yet) in the women's game. And she would face the challenge of convincing families and players that playing for a woman is no different than playing for a man. Fail to do any of that, and Summit won't get the players to compete at the highest level. And if she doesn't win -- and win big -- she will be viewed by many as the queen of the minor leagues who failed at her shot in "the big's".

As unfair as that may be, it's something the women's game doesn't need right now, as its popularity ascends. Women need great coaches too. This isn't about whether Pat Summit can coach, or whether she could handle the pressure and, yes, the abuse that would come with her new job. She can, and she could. It just isn't time. The women's game needs Pat Summit, so that it can keep growing and thriving.

And someday, when one of her former players becomes the first female to lead a Div. I men's program, Summit can take pride in the fact that she helped build the foundation that allowed that momentous feat to occur..