FACING TENNESSEE IS SPECIAL FOR ALBRIGHT

THE UW COACH SQUARES OFF AGAINST

PAT SUMMITT, HER FORMER MENTOR.

Wisconsin State Journal

Madison

Dec 5, 1999

Authors: Jon Masson Sports reporter

Coach Jane Albright and the University of Wisconsin women's basketball

team welcome a special guest to their house this afternoon.

How accommodating the Badgers are to Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and the

perennial powerhouse Lady Vols remains to be seen.

Summitt seeks her 700th college coaching victory against former pupil Albright

in a non-conference game at 1:30 p.m. today at the Kohl Center. More than

10,000 spectators are expected to watch third- ranked Tennessee battle

No. 25 UW.

"She's more than a basketball coach," Albright said of Summitt. "She's

a national icon."

Albright was a graduate assistant on Summitt's staff during the 1981-82

and 1982-83 seasons, when Tennessee advanced to the Final Four and the

Final Eight. Albright went from Tennessee to an assistant's job at Cincinnati

in 1983-84 before becoming head coach at Northern Illinois in 1984. Albright

was named UW's coach in 1994.

"That was a very big break," Albright said of her stay at Tennessee, where

her graduate work was in sports psychology. "I learned a lot there, too.

I was like a sponge."

Albright and the more stern and demanding Summitt have different motivational

approaches.

"We are not alike in personality, but we have the same love for the game,"

Albright said.

That love of the game and her foundation for X's and O's came from Summitt,

said Albright, although adding that she isn't a great zone coach because

Summitt was a half-court, man-to-man disciple.

"I still have my (graduate assistant's) notebook," Albright said. "I didn't

understand the game until I went there. I knew basketball, but I didn't

understand the concepts. . . . She taught me the game of basketball. I

didn't love basketball until I got there. That started my love affair with

the game."

Getting in the door in Knoxville, Tenn., was the difficult part. Albright

- then a high school teacher and coach in Spartanburg, S.C., who wanted

to break into college coaching - joked that she could never get a telephone

call returned from Summitt's office, so "I got in a car and rode over."

Any opportunity depended on someone leaving Summitt's staff and that chance

later arose when Jill Rankin departed and Summitt's top choice for the

graduate assistant spot wasn't able to get into graduate school, Albright

said. Albright still remembers standing in disbelief on the Spartanburg

High School tennis courts on May 11, 1981, and being told that Summitt

was on the phone.

"I got to go as her second choice," said Albright, noting that she also

was UW's second choice after Nell Fortner in 1994. "It opened up doors

for me."

"She was persistent in being involved with our program and I was happy

that she did," Summitt said about Albright during her weekly teleconference

last Wednesday. "To me, Jane is a bright young coach who has done a great

job at Wisconsin. The contest up there (today) definitely won't hurt our

friendship."

Both teams enter today's game with 4-1 records, with Tennessee's 72-66

victory over defending national champion Purdue on Thursday putting Summitt

one game away from 700 victories - second to Texas' Jody Conradt in women's

collegiate coaching circles. Summitt, whose teams have won six NCAA titles,

has compiled a 699-147 record in 26 seasons.

"She is one of my dear friends," said Albright, who is 288-163 in 16 coaching

seasons, including 100-53 in six years at UW. "I love her and respect her.

It's funny to put me and her in the same sentence. She's got what, six

national championships? I haven't done that. But I am as happy as she is

in what I'm doing and where I'm going. I'm extremely happy with my team."

Albright's team includes heralded freshman center Nina Smith, from Waterloo,

Iowa. UW beat out Tennessee for Smith.

"Jane and her staff did a tremendous job recruiting her," Summitt said.

"I would compare Nina to our former All-American Daedra Charles. They both

possess great footwork and hands, while being skilled post players. We

knew throughout the process that there was an excellent chance that Nina

would remain closer to home for school."

Madison has become home for Smith and for Albright. Today, Albright's former

mentor brings her Lady Vols to the Kohl Center for the first time, but

the welcome mat can be extended only so far to a friend. Three previous

meetings between Summitt and UW's Albright have resulted in Tennessee victories.

A victory would mean much to Albright and her program.

"She hasn't really talked about it, but I know deep down inside it will

be special," UW forward LaTonya Sims said.