It didn’t take long after ESPN’s Holly Rowe covered one of the most high-profile incidents ever between women’s college basketball coaches to take aim at the legacy of another.
The morning after the NCAA women’s national championship game in Phoenix, Rowe posted and then deleted a deeply critical message toward the Tennessee athletic department and how it has let the legendary Lady Vols women’s basketball program “disintegrate.”
Rowe even called out athletic director Danny White by name, insinuating that he has tarnished the legacy of Hall of Famer Pat Summit at the school. Rowe also covers Tennessee football as the lead college football sideline reporter at ESPN.
In a new interview with Front Office Sports, Rowe said that while she stands by her criticism, she deleted the post because it was being used by Tennessee fans in a broader debate about how to allocate NIL resources.
“To see what’s going on at Tennessee, I’m sad,” Rowe told FOS. “But what happens when you put something on social media you don’t understand how other people twist it and turn it into something ugly. Tennessee fans are getting in this fight about which sports should be getting more NIL money, and I’m thinking, ‘This is not serving any purpose.'”
Still, Rowe didn’t hold back on her perspective regarding the investment in the women’s program, either. The longtime ESPN reporter recalled that Summit’s women’s basketball program previously was the first within the athletic department to endow scholarships. Recent reports show the team’s roster currently has zero players after a 16-14 season and a transfer-portal exodus.
“I’m still grieving (Summit) frequently, and to watch that legacy getting reduced to something that’s not special is hard to watch,” Rowe added
“I do think I can be more productive with how I express that, and talk to the AD and the people at Tennessee directly, because it does make me sad. I want them to retain her legacy and continue to be a strong program. There’s more productive ways to do that than on social media.”
Summit’s legacy continues to loom large over the sport, even a decade on from her passing. The coach’s memory was referenced frequently amid the fallout from the Geno Auriemma-Dawn Staley spat at the Final Four, as Summit often locked horns with Auriemma during her career.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.