KNOXVILLE - Pat Summitt certainly doesn't sound like a coach who is ready to retire anytime soon. In her 33rd year at the helm of the Tennessee Lady Volunteer basketball program, she spoke to the Big Orange Tipoff Club today about big plans she has for her program's future.

Summitt has 927 wins to her credit, the most of any college basketball coach ever. Incredibly, she has an 87% winning percentage in the tough Southeastern Conference. She is the only coach that has been in every NCAA Women's Sweet 16 that has ever been played in history. On top of that, she plays the toughest schedule in America annually, remains #1 nationally in the RPI as a result, and draws more people to watch women's basketball every year than any other school. She has won six National Championships, more than any hoops coach in history other than the legendary John Wooden.

Her list of accomplishments is practically endless. In addition to her national championships, she has won 25 SEC Championships, and coached 12 Olympians and 18 All-Americans. She was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame the first time she was eligible and was named Naismith National Coach of the Century in 2000. Her Tennessee program has been molded into a dynasty. She is truly a living legend.

As a player, Pat won Olympic Silver. As a coach, she won Olympic Gold for the USA for the first time ever in women's basketball in 1984 in Los Angeles. Success and accomplishment have become her legacy. She is perhaps The University of Tennessee's greatest ambassador, in demand as a speaker, consultant, author, and motivator.

Summitt told the capacity luncheon crowd today that she feels the schedule she has her teams play toughens them mentally and makes them focused when tournament time comes around. She hopes that it will take them to the Final Four of women's basketball once again, something she has achieved so regularly that most UT Lady Vol fans are disappointed if she doesn't make it in any given year.

Tennessee boasts perhaps the greatest player in the women's game, Candace Parker, who at 6'4" aspires to be an Olympian in China soon. Parker, now famous as one of the few female players in the game that can regularly dunk the ball, had told her teammates that she was going to dunk it during what turned out to be a signature win for them over UConn on national TV this past weekend, cementing themselves as one of the top teams in the nation at this stage of the season.

Asked whether she fears Candace will leave school early for the lucrative WNBA offers she is sure to receive, Pat told the crowd that she really hadn't thought about it too much. She was reminded that Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowler Peyton Manning had sought her advice on staying in college at UT rather than going to the NFL early. Pat said that maybe she should call Peyton and ask him to remind her what advice she gave him and give that same advice to Parker.

Pat said she enjoyed the T-shirts that her sorority sisters made for the UT-UConn game, which said, "Geno loves Orange!," referring to Geno Auriemma, the UConn coach with whom Summitt has exchanged barbs in the past. She said they proved so popular that even some nuns bought them and wore them.

Summitt also related a story about how junior college transfer Shannon Bobbitt, a native of the Bronx in New York, was taking her socks home with her rather than leaving them with the managers to launder. When the managers told Pat that they were starting to miss socks after practices, Bobbitt immediately confessed and said they were so soft and warm compared to those she had been used to previously, she didn't want to give them up or lose them. Summitt assured her that she could have fresh ones anytime she wanted, and all the team had a good laugh. It is a testimony to the family atmosphere Summitt has created for her program.

It is also why Pat keeps attracting the top talent. Her eyes brightened when she talked about the girls she already has committed to join the team next year, including 6'6" post player Kelly Cain of Atlanta, who chose the Lady Vols over Duke, LSU, and Georgia, Angie Bjorklund from Spokane, Washington, whom Summitt deftly took from under the nose of Stanford, and who also considered UConn and Duke, Sidney Smallbone, the 5'9" shooting guard from South Bend, Indiana, and Vicki Baugh a 6'4" forward from Sacramento. For Summitt, it appears the rich just keep getting richer.

One thing that caused Pat's eyes to moisten at the luncheon was how she has come full circle from her days as a player at UT-Martin. The Lady Skyhawks came to Knoxville early this season to play the Lady Vols, and Pat got to be reunited with her former coach and athletics director who first recommended her for the head women's basketball coaching job on the main campus in Knoxville when she was only 21 years old. She addressed the UT-Martin team and invited them into her own team's locker room, too, both of which were unprecedented. She said she will always be grateful for that opportunity. Look for her to continue to continue in that role for many years to come. She should surpass 1,000 wins in just a few more short seasons.