Dawn Staley didn’t want to play for Pat Summitt — ‘she’s too much like my mom’ — but didn’t mind losing to her either

Before Philadelphia’s Dawn Staley etched her name in women’s basketball lore, starting with her playing career at Virginia, she was recruited by the late Pat Summitt.

While the Tennessee Volunteers coach was one of the best of all time, Staley had just one thought on her mind after they first met: Summitt is too much like my mother.

“I was actually afraid of her,” Staley said with a laugh. “It was different … It was just really no-nonsense. I didn’t really know her know her, but she came in and she presented, and it was like, she’s too much. She’s too much like my mom. I don’t know about this. I got discipline at home. I needed to experience something a little lenient. I need to be creative.

“I stared into those blue eyes, and I was a shy kid, but she made me look at her. That was probably enough to scare me away, y’all.”

Staley had another reason for picking the Cavaliers over the Lady Vols. She wanted to experience playing for a team that never won a national championship, something Summitt first accomplished in 1987, and then again seven more times during her coaching career.

That was one of many stories told in ESPN and Omaha Productions’ Celebrating Pat Summitt: Live Reunion Special. The special, which will be televised Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, features Staley and former Tennessee stars Candace Parker, Nikki Fargas, and Andraya Carter, moderated by Holly Rowe.

During the December taping in Knoxville, the group discussed the lasting impact of the Hall of Fame coach, who retired in 2012 at 59 after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and died in 2016.

Rowe shared a story about her first, nervous interaction with Summitt during a sit-down interview. Rowe recalled her angst as Summitt walked into the room, but her nerves were calmed when the coach pulled lipstick out of her sweatpants pocket, explaining how her mother told her she needed to wear some for every TV interview.

“I was like, this woman just pulled lipstick out of her sweats, we are going to be best friends,” Rowe said. “And we got to be very good friends.”

That’s just how Summitt was, a mentor to everyone she came in contact with, Staley said at the beginning of the event. The South Carolina coach recalled how Summitt, who amassed nearly 1,100 wins and never missed an NCAA Tournament or had a losing season in her 38-year career, could start mingling with someone — even a future Hall of Famer like Staley — and they would immediately be in awe of Summitt.

“We all, whether we had a direct relationship with her or not, we were all mentored by her,” Staley recalled from her early days coaching against Summitt in the SEC. “It was how she treated people. It’s how, when you’re on the road, she’ll spark up a conversation with you — you don’t really know what to say because it’s Pat Summitt, so you just listen.

“The entire pedigree of who Pat was, what she stood for, the daily standard, is still alive and kicking. And the Tennessee tradition here is still what you fight against.”

Despite Staley not committing to Tennessee, she ended up facing Summitt’s team in the 1991 national championship. Summitt came away with her third title at that point, something Staley joked about while the five spoke.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to the Tennessee Volunteers, because they had their eye on the prize and they weren’t going to be denied, no matter what kind of performance we had as Virginia Cavaliers,” Staley said. “I’m really proud to be here and be a part of Coach Summitt’s history, even if it’s in defeat. I probably wouldn’t want to lose to anybody else but her and be OK with it. Anybody else, I’m not OK with it.”