University of Tennessee Athletics
A Way of Life: Tyler Summitt
December 29, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2010
Donnie Conley
UTsports.com
Many children grow up watching cartoons. Some play with toys. Some enjoy coloring.
For Tyler Summitt, it has always been basketball. The sound of a ball bouncing on the hardwood is the most familiar sound in his life.
Summitt, the son of legendary Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, has been around the game of basketball since birth.
"When I was little, I'd be at all of mom's practices right after school," Summitt said. "My bedtime stories were listening to my mom screaming at the TV at night watching film, so I grew up learning the game and became more and more interested as I got older."
While he eventually aspires to become a basketball coach, he's currently living a lifelong dream. Since he was a young boy, he has wanted to be a member of the Tennessee basketball team.
It hasn't always been an easy road on the hardwood for Summitt. In sixth grade, he was cut from his school's basketball team. He bounced back, worked hard in the offseason and made the team the following year. In high school, he was a three-year starter and captain at Webb School in Knoxville
As for his desire to become a coach, there is no question that his mother has been a big influence in his life. However, Tyler decided to pursue the profession entirely on his own.
"(I realized it) in high school," Summitt said. "There wasn't a defining moment but I've known throughout my whole life that I had a knack for the game and I knew Xs and Os really well."
His understanding of the game stems from his lifelong connection to Tennessee basketball. Like most aspiring coaches, he draws his influences from a number of places. He kept notes of every drill he did as a player for Landry Komalski at Webb. He said playing for coach Bruce Pearl has been a great learning experience, both as a player and a potential coach.
"It's a whole different system," Summitt said. "He's just as intense as my mom, so that's the biggest similarity.
"It's a great opportunity to learn. The men's game is a whole different game. The biggest difference is learning how to coach this much talent. We have 12 guys that can go out there every game and do their thing. It's interesting to see how people coach that."
One element of being a head coach is handling the media. Tyler should have no problems in that department. He did his first interview at age five. Earlier this year, he became a SportsCenter sensation when he banked in a three-pointer against MTSU.
"I'm used to it," Summitt said. "Growing up, people would always joke around and ask me for interviews but I got comfortable with it after a while. I'm trying to help the other guys out (with their interview skills)."
Summitt is driven to win, partly because of the standard of excellence which he has been around throughout his life. He has been a witness to six of his mother's eight national championships, including a perfect season in 1998. Yet it was the stretch from 1998-2007, when Tennessee did not win a national title, where he really gained an appreciation for the effort it takes to be a champion.
"I took winning for granted growing up," Summitt said. "When we didn't win, I saw the hard work going in and it made me really appreciate and understand what it takes to win championships."
His plans for the future are pretty clear. He wants to be a Division I college coach in either men's or women's basketball. After graduating from Tennessee, he plans to seek a graduate assistantship somewhere in the major college landscape.
At the moment, he is just a college kid living out his dream of wearing the Orange and White. For Tyler Summitt, that's good enough for now.
