[DIYPatriot]

With all but five of his players forced to skip last weekend’s AAU state basketball tournament semifinal in Chattanooga due to ACT testing conflicts, Tennessee Fury 17-under girls’ coach Tyler Summitt knew he was in for a struggle.

Then again, as Tennessee Lady Vols coaching legend Pat Summitt has long taught her only child, “Academics comes first,” so there would be no complaining about his empty bench.

But then one of the final five compounded Tyler’s plight by showing up late for warm-ups, definitely a Summitt family no-no. Or as Tyler said, “We have a policy that if you’re late you don’t start. You might not even play.”

Still, this was a state semifinal. For most coaches, risking victory for values would be too big a gamble.

But young Summitt isn’t most coaches. He thought of his mother, of the unbending principles she’s practiced the past 38 years in winning eight national championships and 1,098 games while graduating all 161 players who have completed their eligibility under her watch.

So what would Mom do?

“She’s always said, ‘Discipline first,’” he said with a grin. “She says you start with high standards and keep them. So I started four instead of five.”

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