Lady Vols’ Summitt Receives Lapchick Award

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Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt has been selected as an inaugural recipient of the Joe Lapchick Character Award.

Also being honored at the November 20 ceremony in New York are coaches Lou Carnesecca of St. John’s and Dean Smith of North Carolina.

The award, the idea of former St. John’s player Gus Alfieri, was established to recognize basketball coaches who have shown the character and coaching ability of Hall of Famer Joe Lapchick, who coached at St. John’s and with the New York Knicks.

“There could not be a better time to focus attention on character in sports but the present and Joe Lapchick is the model for the person we should look to,” said Alfieri, who was on Lapchick’s 1959 NIT Championship team.

Summitt has a career record of 983-182 in 34 seasons at Tennessee, making her the winningest coach in college basketball history.

Every student-athlete Summitt has coached during her tenure at Tennessee has graduated.

“It is an honor to have been selected as the first recipient of the Joe Lapchick Character Award. He was a legendary figure on both the collegiate and professional level of our game,” said Summitt. “I am humbled to accept an award which bears his name.”

Lapchick was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1966. He won four NIT championships in 20 seasons at St. John’s and led the NBA’s New York Knicks to three NBA Finals.

The Lady Vols will open the 2008-09 season with a home date against the University of San Francisco on November 15.

Prior to the game, the 2008 NCAA national championship banner will be raised to the rafters, the Lady Vols eighth championship since Summitt took over.