{"id":42934,"date":"2016-06-29T14:33:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T19:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=42934"},"modified":"2016-06-29T14:33:39","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T19:33:39","slug":"pat-summitts-reach-and-inspiration-seen-in-illinois-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pat-summitts-reach-and-inspiration-seen-in-illinois-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Summitt’s reach and inspiration seen in Illinois athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Erin Barney<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pat Summitt was a game changer.<\/p>\n

Not just in the clich\u00e9 sense of the phrase, though. The former University of Tennessee women\u2019s basketball coach and winningest coach in Division I history certainly was a pivotal figure. But she transcended the common expression and literally changed women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

Summitt died yesterday in Knoxville, Tennessee at the age of 64, but those she inspired intend to honor her legacy with continued advocacy for women’s sports.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Riley Gardner, 29, felt Summitt\u2019s influence all the way in Peoria, Illinois. She fell in love with hardwood floors and bank shots as soon as she could walk. But even though she perfected a crossover dribble in middle school, she was cut from the Peoria high school freshman team. It was the first of many times she would turn to Summitt for guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat night, I went home and started reading [Summitt\u2019s] books,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cI could have cried and been upset, but she taught me to be tough and have discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a toughness Gardner has woven into every coaching opportunity she has pursued since that day. At 14, she assisted at the high school and by 22, with a BMA and MBA from Bradley University, she built her hometown\u2019s first AAU girls basketball organization, Heart of Illinois. Since its inception, it has grown from one to seven teams and remains the town\u2019s most successful program.<\/p>\n

Like Summitt, Gardner strove to change something about the game, better it for young women and future players everywhere. Lofty goals, she admitted, but who says the next movement in women\u2019s hoops couldn\u2019t start in Peoria? She followed Summitt\u2019s lead and became a coach no one expected, but one the sport deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cLady coaches are looked at different,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cIf a male coach yells and gets on his players, he\u2019s just being a guy. If I were to do the same, I would be seen as a bully or mean.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s OK to be hard and have high expectations. It\u2019s what the sport needs. I don\u2019t worry about the perception of what female coaches should do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardner and Summitt blazed the trail for women like Mariah Nimmo, 23, a strength and conditioning graduate assistant at Illinois State University. Nimmo was fortunate enough to be coached by both as member of the inaugural Heart of Illinois team and an attendant at Summitt\u2019s basketball camp in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Summitt] is a legend,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cOf course I dreamed of playing for her. She made champions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nimmo has always had to find ways to stand out in male-dominated industries. She\u2019s been doing it since she was five, playing on all-boys basketball teams in Peoria until joining Heart of Illinois in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t get the ball up to the 10-foot rim like they could,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cI had no choice but to get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as the only female strength coach at Illinois State, she\u2019s the one helping the young men improve.<\/p>\n

As a player, Nimmo admired Summitt\u2019s knowledge of and passion for the game. And while she left that summer camp with a better jump shot, she puts more value on the off-the-court lessons Summitt taught.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Discipline yourself so no one else has to\u2019 is what she told us,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cIn life, whatever it is, you have to want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athletics and life lessons are inseparable, Nimmo said. She learned sportsmanship from basketball and was taught its greater applications by coaches like Gardner and Summitt. As her idols have done, Nimmo hopes to shape athletes into championship players and people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about respect. Having it, and demanding it,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201c[Summitt and Gardner] did it first. They paved the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Summitt was the first U.S. basketball Olympic player to medal (1973), then later return as an assistant (1980) and head coach (1997). (Erin Barney\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Erin Barney Pat Summitt was a game changer. Not just in the clich\u00e9 sense of the phrase, though. The former University of Tennessee women\u2019s basketball coach and winningest coach in Division I history certainly was a pivotal figure. But she transcended the common expression and literally changed women\u2019s basketball. Summitt died yesterday in Knoxville, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":42940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[2921,192,640],"class_list":["post-42934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-pat-summitt","tag-promo","tag-womens-basketball"],"yoast_head":"\nPat Summitt's reach and inspiration seen in Illinois athletes - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pat-summitts-reach-and-inspiration-seen-in-illinois-athletes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pat Summitt's reach and inspiration seen in Illinois athletes - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Erin Barney Pat Summitt was a game changer. 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