NEW YORK (AA) – Hall of Fame coach Pat Summit, credited with bringing national attention to women’s basketball, lost her five-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease on Tuesday. She was 64.
Her son, Tyler Summit, said in a statement that his mother died peacefully at a retirement home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
She battled the disease with “fierce determination just as she did with every opponent she ever faced,” said Tyler, who followed in his mother’s footsteps and became a college women’s basketball coach. “Even though it’s incredibly difficult to come to terms that she is no longer with us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this disease,” he added.
The legendary coach, known for her no-nonsense approach to the game, led the University of Tennessee Lady Vols from 1974 – 2012, a year after she was diagnosed, winning eight national championships and 1,098 games. She has the most wins of any National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, Division I coach.
“She’ll be remembered as the all-time winningest D-1 basketball coach in NCAA history, but she was more than a coach to so many — she was a hero and a mentor, especially to me, her family, her friends, her Tennessee Lady Volunteer staff and the 161 Lady Vol student-athletes she coached during her 38-year tenure,” her son said.
In 2012, President Barack Obama, a huge basketball fan, awarded Summit with the Medal of Freedom, nation’s highest civilian honor.
And she was humble when she announced her retirement. “I can say I have been happy to be your coach. I can tell you I have loved my work at the University of Tennessee, it’s been awesome. I can say for almost four decades, it’s been a privilege to make an impact on the lives of 161 women who have worn the orange. I’m so proud of them,” she said.
Reactions began to pour in after news of Summitt’s death spread Tuesday.
Tennessee Sen. Bob Corkersaid in a statement that “basketball has lost a legend, and Tennessee has lost one of its most beloved daughters.”
The school’s athletic director, Dave Hart, said: “Pat Summitt is synonymous with Tennessee, but she truly is a global icon who transcended sports and spent her entire life making a difference in other peoples’ lives.
“Her legacy will live on through the countless people she touched throughout her career.”
In addition to her son, Summit is survived by her mother, sister, three brothers and three sisters-in-law.
