Before Pat Summitt took over at Tennessee in 1974 — at just 22, two years after Title IX and before the NCAA even sponsored a women’s tournament — the sport looked nothing like it does now. By the time she stepped away in 2012, she hadn’t missed the tournament once, never posted a losing season, and had piled up 1,098 wins, then the most in Division I history, men’s or women’s.
Summitt died in June 2016 at 64, nearly five years after revealing her diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. There’s never really been a clean way to sum up what she meant, which is kind of the point.
On Sunday night, the people closest to her will give it a shot.
Celebrating Pat Summitt: Live Reunion Special, produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, will premiere on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 29 at 7 p.m. ET, with the broadcast also available to stream on the ESPN App. The hour-long special was filmed in December at Knoxville’s historic Tennessee Theatre in front of a live audience and features Candace Parker, Nikki Fargas, and Andraya Carter — all former Lady Vols — alongside South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, in a conversation moderated by ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
Manning, who called Summitt a mentor and a friend — and who presented her with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2012 ESPYs — said in a statement to Awful Announcing that it was an honor to help bring the special to life.
“It was an honor for Omaha Productions to host this reunion special honoring Coach Summitt, someone I was lucky enough to call a mentor and a friend, and we’re excited that we’ll be able to bring the special to a whole new audience through ESPN,” Manning said. “We’re grateful to Lilly for their commitment to bringing it to life and to Candace, Nikki, Andraya, Dawn, and Holly — some of the people who knew Pat best — for joining us to share stories of her legendary career and incredible character. It’s a special conversation that you won’t want to miss.”
The special airs Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.