"We’ve been friends for a long time. Sometimes in a competitive profession like ours, you can count your friends on one hand. But Vivian has been there for me a long time. We’ve competed against each other and have been able to remain not just colleagues but great friends. This can be a lonely profession at times, and when you’re struggling, you need someone you can call and just bounce some ideas off of or just share what you’re going through. Vivian has been there."

"The one thing I learned from competing against Texas back in the 1980s is that they were so physically fit and had great endurance and were so aggressive and competitive. Obviously they had great players — you can have that but it doesn’t work if they’re not in great shape and they don’t play together. There were times we couldn’t hit our offense because of the pressure Texas put on us defensively.

"Playing Texas made the Tennessee program better. So did playing Southern Cal, Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech in the 1980s. We lost a number of games to those four teams, but we knew we had to raise the bar in recruiting and in the standard that we set — to be the best you have to play the best and know how to gauge where you need to go."

"She has been the mentor who has had the greatest influence on how I coach the game and has been a significant influence on my philosophy and my teaching. She’s a tremendous teacher; she still comes in now and works my camps. I like to listen to her language and her overall basketball knowledge. She was at UCLA with coach Wooden, and she has a wealth of knowledge."

"He comes from a different type of program. Just learning how he runs his motion offense has been good for me. He’s willing to share ideas. We don’t play each other very much and it’s a situation where we can share and not feel like we’re giving away any secrets. And, yes, I do send him a nice tie every now and then."

"We can be extremely competitive and we can not see each other for a long time, but when we do pick up the phone or come in contact with each other outside of the competitive environment we connect on a lot of different levels. That is the ultimate test of respect and friendship. I appreciate that about Pat very much."

"One time when I was in Knoxville, we went out for dinner and she tells me about shopping, and I tell her that I’ve had one pair of dress shoes for the last two years. I only wear them to games — everywhere else I wear shorts and sneakers. She’s cracking up. We order dinner and it has on the menu a ‘Lady Vol’ cut of prime rib. And I say to the waitress with my Philadelphia accent, ‘I want the Lady Vaal cut.’ And Pat politely jumps in and says, "Harry, excuse me, but it’s Vol, not Vaal.’ It was important to her that I get that right ...

"She still sends me ties to improve my dress. She sent an orange one to the locker room before we played Colorado in a Sweet 16 game at Knoxville before Tennessee’s game against Penn State. She said I needed to wear it so the Tennessee fans would cheer for us."

"I really care about Pat, and every time I play her I’m going to try my best to beat her. But I personally care about her, and when it’s over, it’s over. I know I can talk to her about anything, and she’s going to help me. One time we were

standing on the sidelines after a practice the day before a game and we were talking about clothes. Why not? She likes to shop; so do I. What’s the big deal about that? When you have to try not to be the person you should be because you’re afraid you just might be a little vulnerable, that’s not good.

"Pat has handled everything with class, and to always be the first with something is very difficult. She’s worked hard and I appreciate the steps forward she’s taken with winning games, with attendance, with her salary. It starts a conversation, it proves the university’s commitment to her as a worthy coach, and she’s been gracious about every bit of it."

"I’m one of the few people who saw her as a player, coached her and coached against her. She plays as you would assume — with a great level of intensity. She didn’t become a co-captain of the Olympic team and start based on a single dominant athletics skill. The way her teams play today is the way she played back then.

"When we were training for the 1976 Olympic team once in the Kansas City area, there were no women to train against, so we had to train against guys. We ended up scrimmaging against some of the NCAA staff (including current Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt; Vice Presidents David Berst and Ron Stratten; and former enforcement representative Jim Delany, now the commissioner of the Big Ten) at a nearby community college under game conditions (the staff won in overtime, according to Jernstedt). I remember challenging Pat at some point to block out more aggressively, and she put one of the staff members about four rows in the bleachers on the next possession. ...

"What separates her is that while everyone wants to win, Pat is willing to prepare to win. She leaves no stone unturned in the preparation for a game, a recruit or whatever."