The day after Univ. As Tennessee's Pat Summit eclipsed North Carolina's Dean Smith for most career wins by a Division I head basketball coach, some have suggested she would be a good choice to lead the United States men's team. Flights. UT has since hired a men's coach. Yet we are still faced with the question of whether Summit should be considered or accept such a position. The 800-pound gorilla in this argument is whether Summit deserves to claim the title of "winningest Division I basketball coach of all time." ". From a purely statistical point of view, it is. But comparing women's and men's games is like comparing 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, since Oh played in Japan and Aaron played in the United States John Gagliardi won more football games than Bobby Bowden Again, one difference: Gagliardi has. coached in Division III, while Bowden spent most of his time at I-A. And Summit has more wins than Smith. But we're talking about two different sports. Smith is the winning champion. men's and Summit holds the women's title; two different sports, two different leaders The reason Summit shouldn't consider taking the men's job is because she could end up hurting women's soccer by doing so. giant in her sport, the most successful coach of all time and the creator of the program that every other school wants to emulate. If she were to take over the UT men's team and not win big, there would be joy among those who view women's college basketball as inferior. Summit has never recruited male players. She should build a new network of contacts at the high school and AAU to help her channel her players. She'd have to face prep stars who think their next dribble should be aimed at NBA millions, not college glory. This does not exist (yet) in women's football. And she would have the challenge of convincing families and players that playing for a woman is no different than playing for a man. If you don't do any of this, Summit won't allow players to compete at the highest level. And if she doesn't win - and wins big - she will be seen by many as the queen of the minor leagues who failed in her shot at "the bigs". »..