A couple weeks ago, Joanne P. McCallie’s sister, Carolyn Clement, gave her a book entitled “Still Alice,” by Lisa Genova, saying, “Joanne, you must read this.” The novel tells the tale of a 50-year-old Harvard professor who struggles to deal with her uncertain future after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Little did Coach McCallie know how quickly the book would hit home.
About a week later, head coach of the Tennessee women’s basketball team Pat Summitt announced she had been diagnosed with the same condition. Arguably the most prolific coach in the sport’s history, Summitt has been at the helm of the Lady Vols program since 1974, capturing eight national championships and becoming the first and only NCAA Division I basketball coach—either men’s or women’s—to win over 1,000 games.
Now familiar with the disease from reading “Still Alice,” McCallie better understands the pain that her fellow head coach is going through.
“I’ve now completed that book and found it incredibly heart wrenching,” McCallie said. “But at the same time, clarifying how that works—the process of handling that kind of disease.”
Although the two coaches do not share a close personal relationship, McCallie’s few interactions with Summitt have helped define her career. McCallie first came into contact with the legendary head coach when she got her first coaching gig as an assistant at Auburn from 1988-1992. With both teams competing in the SEC, McCallie got an up-close and personal look at Summitt and her coaching style.
The future head coach of the Blue Devils learned one lesson quickly—sometimes you have to watch, and inevitably lose to, the best to try and become the best.
“How do you even strategize? Just trying to prepare at Auburn to beat Tennessee,” McCallie said. “What that did for me as a coach, because of the excellence Coach Summitt had.... They were so unbeatable, always winning the league.”
McCallie soon received her first head coaching job, taking over at Maine. She might not have got that job without Summitt, who agreed to be a reference for McCallie when she applied for the position.
McCallie noted that the Maine athletic department likely didn’t call in the reference, but Summitt’s willingness to put in a good word symbolizes her generosity and helpfulness.
“I am here today at Duke because of a gracious nature she had years ago,” McCallie said.
Summitt’s influence on the sport of women’s basketball has been felt by everybody involved with the game since she first began coaching 37 years ago. And because of a book, and a small but important relationship that began 23 years ago during McCallie’s time at Auburn, the Duke head coach has nothing but an endless flow of respect for her counterpart, who now confronts not only X’s and O’s but a debilitating mental disease.
“Everyone in basketball sends their prayers and good thoughts to her. It’s overwhelming to think about a woman who has led our sport for thirty-plus years to go through this,” McCallie said. “[Her] great convictions, great success, how do you put it into words?”
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