Pat Summitt on Nikki Caldwell

Thanks to Jill Painter who was able to track Pat Summitt down tonight at the Wooden Award banquet. Like Candace Parker earlier in the day, it didn’t take much to get Summitt glowing about Caldwell, who interviewed with UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero and assistant athletic director Petrina Long on Friday, as first reported on dailynews.com

“She’s tremendous. She’s one of the best assistants I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot of great ones,” Summitt said. “She’s bright, articulate and extremely polished. She’s a great teacher and disciplinarian. Her communications skills are a great asset. She was tremendous with Candace.”

“If someone got out of line, she got them back in line. She put out a lot of fires before they ever got to me.”

“Whoever gets her, whenever that happens, is going to be amazed. I don’t want to lose her, but I can’t hold her back.”