First Geno, now Pat.
Hard to miss the winningest coach in the game on Friday night sitting in the bleachers at Ocean Lakes High School in her Tennessee orange colors, watching the junior post player everyone in the nation covets. Summitt and her assistant Dean Lockwood saw a routine performance by 6-3 prodigy center Elizabeth Williams of Princess Anne High, who bagged 15 points and 14 boards and was even more imposing on the other end of the floor where it's hard not to gawk at her leaping ability. Williams is rumored to be ACC bound -- Duke, NC, Virginia, maybe -- but it must be nice to look up and see the game's elite.
Two weeks ago Geno was in town to watch Williams at Bayside High School.
Unfazed, Williams said she's used to all the attention from AAU and Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier agrees this kid keeps her poise. "She could play in front of Obama," he said.
Summitt visited Virginia Beach fresh from giving her own team a tongue lashing in Alabama, where she said her Lady Vols disrespected the game for their flat play against the SEC's last place team.
"We'll see if it does any good," said Summitt, who wasn't allowed to speak to Williams due to those pesky NCAA rules, though she flashed a thumbs up as Princess Anne collected its sixth straight Beach District tournament trophy. Typical Summitt was ever so gracious with the kids in the crowd, posing with babies and kids while cell phones and digital cameras snapped away. Another night in a high school gym might get old for a coach who has done this for 36 years, but says Summitt: "Not if you need players."
She also had a kind word for the CAA's first-place team, the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs, whom the Lady Vols spanked 102-62 in Knoxville two months ago.
"Wendy and I had dinner that night," she said. "She's so good. I knew it would be a matter of time before they got it together."
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