KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Nancy Darsch, who helped the legendary Pat Summitt lead the Lady Vols to five Final Fours and two SEC Championships during her seven-year tenure as an assistant coach at Tennessee from 1978 to 1985, passed away on November 2, 2020, in her hometown of Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease. She was 68.
Darsch, a 1973 graduate of Springfield College, coached multiple sports at Longmeadow High School in Massachusetts until 1978, coming to Knoxville to pursue a master's degree while serving as a teaching assistant in the UT physical education department. She joined the Lady Vol staff as an associate coach during the 1978-79 season but quickly earned Summitt's trust with her knowledge of the game. She was named a full-time assistant prior to the 1979-80 campaign.
Her acumen for scouting opponents was instrumental in UT fashioning a 180-58 record during her time on Rocky Top. The Big Orange advanced to three AIAW Final Fours (1979 [3rd], 1980 [2nd] and 1981 [2nd]) and two of the first three NCAA Women's Final Fours in history, placing third in the inaugural 1982 event and taking second in 1984. Those years built a foundation for a program that would go on to record 22 Final Four appearances and eight NCAA titles under Summitt's direction.
UT's SEC crown in 1980, won on the court of the Lady Vols' own Stokely Athletics Center, was the first women's basketball title in the history of the conference. In addition to her coaching duties, Darsch also served as the tournament manager for that event.
Darsch and Summitt also teamed up for a globally-historic cause, coaching the 1984 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team. With Lady Vols Lea Henry and Cindy Noble on their roster, Summitt (head coach) and Darsch (assistant) guided the USA to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's basketball. Winning Olympic gold was a feat Darsch would accomplish again in 1996, assisting a squad coached by Stanford's Tara VanDerveer to glory in Atlanta. Lady Vols Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee were members of that team.
In the 1984-85 Lady Vol media guide, Darsch was described as "one of the most versatile and knowledgeable assistant coaches in women's basketball." The 1980-81 edition shared, "Darsch's experience, innovation and perception on the floor are big bonuses for the Lady Vols. In addition to her on-court coaching duties, she has handled scouting, recruiting and game management for the Tennessee team."
Darsch's stint at Tennessee prepared her for a head coaching position, and Ohio State came calling after the 1984-85 season. She would guide the Buckeyes to four Big Ten Conference Championships and seven NCAA appearances in her 12 seasons there. Compiling a 234-125 record in Columbus, she took OSU to within three points of the pinnacle, as her 1993 squad fell to Texas Tech in the NCAA Championship game, 84-82.
The latter half of Darsch's career was spent in the WNBA. She coached the New York Liberty to the 1997 Finals in the league's inaugural year. She also had stints as a head coach with the Washington Mystics, the Minnesota Lynx and the Seattle Storm. She was an assistant on the 2010 Seattle team that claimed the WNBA title.
