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"I feel blessed to have been a part of those early years," Wiseman said. "People want to call me a pioneer or a legend; all that does is just date me. And that's okay. I still am very proud of the fact that I was in on those formative years and I have great pride in where we have come from in women's sports and in particular women's basketball."

Wiseman established a record of 248 152 in her 16 year coaching career. By 1981, when she was only 37 years old, she was inducted into the Belmont Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2004 she became the first Belmont coach or athlete inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame based on her contributions to promoting women's basketball in the state.

She wanted to teach and coach, which today seems not only simple, but attainable.

The problem, however, was with coaching because there was nothing to coach. Belmont did not have a women's basketball team at the time.

These eight women who all have ties to Middle Tennessee helped put women's college basketball on the map in the United States.

She founded the women's basketball team at Belmont, which became one of the first women's teams not only in the state, but throughout the southeast.

Ann Jacobs, right, Belmont women basketball star, shows off her National Women Invitational Tournament All American sweater to Coach Betty Wiseman, left, and teammate Kathi Martin on March 20, 1974. The Rebelettes finished sixth in the NWIT, finishing the season 22 6. Martin was named to the All America Honorable Mention squad.

Wiseman finally got up the nerve to suggest that the administration give Balenciaga Bag Uk women the same opportunity men had on the basketball court and two years later turned her dream of coaching into reality.

"In my first year of teaching at Belmont and in the four years I was there in school I played intramurals and there were all these girls who could play," Wiseman said. "And I kept thinking, 'If we just had a team.'"

Belmont beat North Carolina, Alabama, Nebraska, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Those are the highlights. The feats that roll off the tongues of diehard Lady Vols fans.

"Girls high school basketball in the state of Tennessee was big and it was important," said Georgia women's basketball coach Andy Landers, who grew up in Maryville. "Betty tasted something before anybody else did. And so she created a college basketball program for women at Belmont when it didn't exist anywhere not at Vanderbilt, not at Tennessee, not at Georgia. People probably thought Betty was crazy."

Her multitude of fans will never forget.

There are no categories or lists, however, which illustrate the positive impact Summitt, 61, had on the young women who played for her or the inspiration she provided for the countless little girls Bottega Veneta Backpack US

who attended her summer basketball camps or watched UT play.

Middle Tennessee's Elite Eight

These ladies are legendary. And as the NCAA Women's Final Four kicks off in Nashville this weekend, there's no better time to celebrate their achievements, their contributions, and their legacies.

The Clarksville native who grew up in Henrietta and played basketball at Cheatham County High, won 1,098 games, 32 SEC championships and eight national championships in her 38 years as Tennessee's women's basketball coach.

Pat SummittThe pride of Cheatham County

Wiseman quickly built Belmont into a women's college basketball power. The Lady Rebels (now Bruins) earned four consecutive berths in the Balenciaga Suede Bag Blue

Wiseman's summer basketball camps at Belmont became popular and served as inspiration for young players to follow in her footsteps. One of those was Pat Head Summitt, a young basketball star at Cheatham County at the time.

coach, Wiseman stuck to the mission of advancing women's athletics by moving into administration. She served as assistant athletics director until she retired last May.

National Women's Invitational Tournament, from 1973 1977.

The teaching part was no problem. Wiseman landed a job as a health and physical education professor at Belmont in 1966, the year after she graduated.

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Betty Wiseman. Pat Summitt. Teresa Phillips. Alline Banks Sprouse. Lin Dunn. Carolyn Peck. Marynell Meadors. Nera White.

Because of her early onset dementia Pat Summitt admitted in her book released last year there are times when she is unable to remember the many milestones and accomplishments of her career.

Betty Wiseman established her career goals while she was still a student at Portland High School.

Betty WisemanTurned Belmont's new program into a power

(Photo: Kit Luce / The Tennessean)

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In the 1960s, however, when Wiseman graduated from Belmont College, it was neither simple or, for the most part, attainable.