The day after the Univ. of Tennessee's Pat Summit eclipsed North Carolina's Dean Smith for most career wins by a Division I basketball head coach, some have suggested he would have been a good choice to lead the Vols men's team. UT has since hired a male coach. Yet we are still left with the question of whether Summit should be considered or take on such a job. The 800-pound gorilla in this discussion is whether Summit deserves to claim the title of “winningest Division I basketball coach of all time.” ." In a purely statistical sense, it does. But comparing women's games and men's games is like comparing, well, women and men. They are completely different. Sadaharu Oh hit more home runs than Hank Aaron, but no one would say the two men are comparable, as Oh played in Japan and Aaron played in the United States. John Gagliardi won more football games than Bobby Bowden Again, one difference: Gagliardi coached in Division III, while Bowden spent the most of his time in the IA grade. And Summit has more wins than Smith. But we are talking about two different sports, two different leaders different The reason Summit shouldn't consider taking the men's jobs is that doing so could end up hurting the women's game. She is a giant in her sport, the most successful coach ever and the creator of the program that every other school wants to emulate. If he were to take over the UT men's team and not win big, there would be rejoicing among those who view women's college basketball as inferior. Summit has never recruited men's players. He would have to build a new network of high school and AAU contacts to help funnel his players. It would have to deal with prep stars who believe their next dribble should be for NBA millions, not collegiate glory. This doesn't exist (yet) in women's football. And she will face the challenge of convincing families and players that playing for a woman is no different than playing for a man. If none of this is done, Summit will not allow players to compete at the highest level. And if she doesn't win - and she wins big - she will be seen by many as the queen of the minor leagues who failed in her attempt at the "bigs".”..