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Former YSU coach recalls friendship with Summitt
DiGregorio’s team
hosted No. 1 Vols
at Beeghly in 1993
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
Five hundred dollars in cash.
That’s how much money Pat Summitt wanted to lend Ed DiGregorio for a night out at the Las Vegas casinos approximately 20 years ago following the second day of an elite three-day women’s college basketball camp.
“She didn’t stay the third day, but we were all going out one night — all the coaches were gonna gamble a little bit — and I went to get money and I had the wrong credit card,” said DiGregorio, YSU’s women’s basketball head coach from 1983-2003. “I had my wife’s instead of mine, so I couldn’t even get money in Vegas.
“My daughter Marilyn scrounged around and was able to find a way to get some money to me, but in the meantime, Pat says, ‘Coach, I’m leaving. I have $500 in cash and I’d be glad to give it to ya. I don’t need it, I’m going back to Tennessee.’ I said, ‘Hold on Pat.’ But that’s Pat — she was just a very gracious lady.”
Summitt — the iconic Tennessee women’s basketball coach who battled Alzheimer’s the past five years — died early Tuesday morning at the age of 64.
DiGregorio, 89, was proud to call Summitt a friend.
“The first time I met her, they invited all the coaches from the various conferences who won the conference championships to a banquet,” said DiGregorio, who led the Penguins to five 20-win seasons and five consecutive conference championships. “[Broadcaster] Robin Roberts was the keynote speaker and Pat came up and introduced her. That was the first time I met Pat Summitt. Then we crossed paths a few other times.”
After that initial meeting, the two friends worked out a deal in which YSU would play at Tennessee, with the Volunteers coming to Beeghly Center in a second matchup. The Penguins hosted No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 9, 1993, and fell to the Volunteers, 78-54.
“I said, ‘Pat, would you play us?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, you guys have had a lot of success and Ohio’s a short trip from Tennessee. I think our girls would enjoy to go to the steel town,’” DiGregorio said. “She brought her little boy, who was about 3-years-old at the time. My wife bought him some things and we welcomed them to Youngstown.
“All the media, they were just amazed at how gracious she was to everyone here. She just was a great person and she never stopped working. Not just a great coach, but a great person.”
Summitt coached from 1974-2012 before her illness forced her to retire. She finished with 1,098 career wins, won eight national titles and was named NCAA Coach of the Year seven times.
“She was just an unbelievable ambassador for women’s college basketball,” said John Barnes, the current YSU women’s head coach, who met Summitt once. “For where the game was when she started coaching to where it is now, it’s night and day — and she was a big reason why.”
Said DiGregorio: “She set the pedestal very high for all young ladies to reach. She just personified a great person and showed the young ladies that they can make it if they worked at it. For 38 years, she was on top of the world.”
Throughout the years, DiGregorio kept in touch with Summitt through phone calls and postcards — every Christmas and before the start of every new basketball season.
“She would do the same,” he said.
DiGregorio didn’t accept Summitt’s $500 that night in Vegas, but he did take a lot from his friendship with one of basketball’s all-time greatest coaches.
“She was a wonderful lady and always knew her place,” said DiGregorio, who turns 90 on Sept. 30, works out regularly with his wife, Edie, and is doing well. “She was always so nice to young coaches, was always very direct and really just helped young ladies succeed.”