Former University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt died on Tuesday. She was 64.
According to Yahoo Sports, Summitt was diagnosed with early onset dementia, the Alzheimer’s type in 2011. A year after the diagnosis, she retired from coaching. Summitt’s son Tyler said that she died peacefully at the Sherrill Hills retirement facility in Knoxville, Tennessee surrounded by loved ones.
"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," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said in a statement. "She was a genuine, humble leader who focused on helping people achieve more than they thought they were capable of accomplishing. Pat was so much more than a Hall of Fame coach; she was a mother, mentor, leader, friend, humanitarian and inspiration to so many. Her legacy will live on through the countless people she touched throughout her career."
The winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history, Summitt was the Tennessee women’s basketball coach from 1974 to 2012. She won 1,098 games and eight national championships, including three straight from 1996 to 1998, according to ESPN. She won 16 Southeastern Conference tournament titles and made 31 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, including 22 Final Four appearances (18 NCAA, 4 AIAW).
She was named the NCAA coach of the year seven times. In 2011 she was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year and won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2012 ESPYS. In 2012 she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Former players of Summitt and people from all over the sports world took to social media to paid tribute to Summitt.
A private funeral and burial will be held in Middle Tennessee. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on July 14 on the University of Tennessee campus to honor Summitt.