Tyler Summitt has a famous mom. For all of his 22 years, he has grown up in the massive shadow of legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in the history of college basketball, men’s or women’s.

But in 2012-13, the newest Marquette women’s basketball assistant coach will start writing a coaching legacy of his own.

“I couldn’t trade that for anything,” Summitt said of his experiences with his mother. “Growing up every single day going to practice, going to every game, going on road trips – it was an incredible experience that only a coach’s kid could have.”

Marquette women’s basketball coach Terri Mitchell agrees that while those experiences with Pat weren’t the reason Tyler got the job, they certainly will help the team while Tyler coaches.

“I didn’t hire him because his last name is Summitt,” Mitchell said. “But I am getting the benefit of his last name being Summitt.”

Mitchell made it clear that from the start Tyler went beyond his last name by communicating his goal to make Marquette a championship program.

“He got this job because of Tyler and who he is,” Mitchell said. “I asked him, ‘Why should I hire you?’ He said, ‘Because there’s only one thing I understand, and that’s a championship environment, and I’ll bring that every day.’”

As for what Summitt could do for the program, Mitchell said he has the right mentality to help Marquette bounce back.

“He brings to the table so much,” Mitchell said. “I love any tidbits he can bring, but the biggest thing he brings is a passion to win and a discipline to win. He didn’t come to Marquette to be sitting in 11th (place in the Big East, where it finished last year). He came to Marquette for us to be one of the best in the country in everything we do.”

Summitt stressed the importance of working with great fellow coaches in his first big coaching job.

“It’s an honor to work with Terri, someone who’s been here for so long and had so much success,” Summitt said. “No matter where you are, it’s all about the people. With Terri, Michelle (Nason) and ‘Q’ (Christina Quaye), it’s been a great group of people, and I’ve been blessed to be a part of it.”

So far, Summitt says his role has been to work with the offense and to talk to potential recruits on the road.

“I’ve been working on more of an offensive coordinator focus,” Summitt said. “Out of bounds plays, recruiting and scouting have been more of my main focus.”

Junior forward Katherine Plouffe appreciates the impact Summitt has had on practices so far.

“He’s so knowledgeable,” Plouffe said. “He sees the details and fine-tunes everything. He has completed our staff. He buys into the program and buys into our team so much.”

Moreover, she sees the positive impact Summitt will have on the program going forward.

“Because he’s seen a successful program, he knows what to bring,” Plouffe said. “He takes what he knows and inputs it to what we have going on.”

Beyond the impact he can make on the team, Summitt said Marquette is already on the right track to becoming a championship program.

“They’re so much of a family,” Summitt said. “They all care about each other and put the team before themselves. That’s one of the first steps you have to take in order to win a championship.”