New Pat Summit exhibit unveiled at Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame unveiled a new exhibit honoring the late Tennessee Lady Vols basketall coach Pat Summitt on June 12, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame opened “The Legacy,” a new exhibit honoring the late Pat Summitt.The exhibit features memorabilia from Summitt’s career, including her iconic orange stool and a Team USA jersey.Former players and colleagues shared anecdotes about Summitt, highlighting her impact both on and off the court.Summitt was instrumental in bringing the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame to Knoxville.
The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame unveiled a permanent exhibit honoring Pat Summitt, and it’s one fitting for the legendary Lady Vols basketball coach.
“The Legacy” exhibit honoring Summitt is the largest the WBHOF has created since its opening in 1999. The display dedicated to Summitt’s career and impact on the game has her books and awards and clothes like Team USA jersey and one of her iconic blazers she once wore at games.
When former Tennessee star Michelle Marciniak walked up to the exhibit, the first thing she heard was Summitt’s voice on the video playing in the corner. Marciniak said no one deserves an exhibit at the WBHOF more than Summitt.
“I’m just happy to see it finally come to life,” Marciniak told Knox News. “It’s really special. Pat was a people-first person. So what’s neat about this is honoring her in a way where the people that know her and loved her can now honor her and walk by the exhibit and feel connected to her … the voice, the photos, the clothes, the books – everything is there and it’s alive. So the exhibit almost makes her alive again.”
The WBHOF unveiled the exhibit on June 12, two days before Summitt’s birthday, which falls on the same day as the WBHOF induction ceremony for the 2025 class on June 14 (5:45 p.m., ESPN+) at the Tennessee Theatre. The goal of the exhibit is to showcase who Summitt was beyond her storied coaching career.
Former Tennessee women’s athletics director Joan Cronan was “thrilled with the exhibit.” One of the first things that she saw was the photo of Summitt’s granddaughter, Patricia Lakelyn, hugging the statue of Summitt on Tennessee’s campus.
The other piece Cronan noticed right away was the white baseball cap with orange and white feathers all over it. Summitt wore it when she famously dressed up like a cheerleader and sang “Rocky Top” at a men’s basketball game in 2007.
“Of all the years Pat and I worked together and all the exciting Final Fours and championship games and going to meet the president, that was the time she was most nervous and most anxious,” Cronan said. “I bet you if I took her heart rate, it would’ve been out of sight.”
Summitt’s iconic orange stool is also displayed in one of the cases. When longtime assistant and former Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick saw it, she chuckled thinking about the stool’s travels with former longtime ESPN executive Carol Stiff.
“The stool has been everywhere,” Warlick said. “It’s been lost, it’s just been everywhere. So I just had to tell her about that stool, and there were some backups, but Pat didn’t know they were backups.”
The exhibit is fitting not only because of Summitt’s impact on the game, but because she was a pivotal figure in getting the WBHOF established in Knoxville. There were several public figures involved, but Summitt played a major role in raising capital with private donors to fund the project.
“Well, the reason why the hall of fame is here is because of Pat Summitt, because she wasn’t going to have it anywhere else,” Warlick said. “I think she’s well deserving of having her own little corner in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.”
Summitt stepped down from leading the Lady Vols in 2012 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011. Summitt spent the rest of her life advocating for research to find a cure for the disease before she died on June 28, 2016.
Summitt retired at the time as the winningest coach in Division I basketball history with 1,098 wins. She led Tennessee to eight national championships, including a three-peat from 1996-98 and back-to-back titles in 2007-08. Summitt won a combined total of 32 SEC championships and made 18 trips to the Final Four.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.