Tennessee's Pat Summitt is no stranger to hard work. In fact, it's the only kind of work the legendary head coach has known over her 34-year career. Growing up on a farm with three older brothers and a father who didn't take no for an answer, Summitt didn't really have much of a choice. After all, as she was told, "Cows never take a day off."
But it was her mother, who Summitt says worked harder than any of the men in the family, that taught her hard work isn't always good enough. To be the best, she would have to out-work the rest.
It's no surprise then that Summitt never missed a single day of class from kindergarten through high school. Nor is it a mystery how Summitt managed to squeeze seven national championships and nearly 1,000 wins out of 12,410 days on the job.
She simply worked harder than everyone else.
This year Summitt's Volunteers are back in the Final Four for the 11th time in the last 14 seasons. Should Tennessee capture yet another national title, it would put Summitt just two behind UCLA coaching 
legend John Wooden's record 10 college basketball championships. Her 981 wins and 18 Final Four appearances are already the most of any coach, man or woman, in college basketball history.
Summitt's father Richard was the first to realize that together, his daughter and the game of basketball were something special. Always shooting baskets in the barn with her brothers, Pat's athletic potential was enough for her father to move his family across county lines so Pat could play basketball in high school.
She took over at Tennessee in 1974, when she was just 22 years old. Immediately, Pat's work ethic, vision and determination paved way for what has become one of the most decorated coaching tenures in sports history - while Summitt herself raised the roof for women's athletics across the country.
Summitt, whose work ethic is epitomized in her emphatic disregard for the word "can't", became a living legend following Tennessee's flawless 1997-1998 season. The Lady Vols' finished an unprecedented 39-0 that year to win their third straight national title and establish themselves as the single most powerful dynasty in women's athletics.
It was in that perfect season that Summitt proved she would continue to out-work her field no matter how much success her Volunteers were able to show off on the mantle. Her passion for the game and her drive to win still today remains greater than most anyone in the game. It's the reason Tennessee and a 55-year-old Summitt are fighting as we speak for yet another NCAA crown.
In my opinion, the University of Tennessee is home to the best women's basketball program in the country, and as long as Summitt remains at the helm, don't expect that to change any time soon.
Each month, Don Yaeger, a four-time New York Times best-selling author and award-winning motivational speaker, shares one of his 16 Characteristics of Greatness through the eyes of a great winner from the world of sports. At the end of the e-newsletter, find tips on how to apply this winning characteristic to your life.
