VOLS

Pat Summitt, legendary Lady Vols coach, dies at 64

Dan Fleser

Knoxville News Sentinel

KNOXVILLE — When Pat Summitt announced in August 2011 that she had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, the Tennessee women's basketball coaching legend pointedly said, "It's not going to keep me from living my life."

Her public battle with the brain disease ended early Tuesday morning when Summitt died at Sherrill Hill Senior Living in Knoxville. She was 64.

The time of death, according to former UT women's athletic director Joan Cronan, was 5:05 a.m. Cronan also said she received a text about Summitt's death at 5:10 a.m.

Summitt is survived by her mother, Hazel Albright Head; son, Ross "Tyler" Summitt; sister, Linda; brothers, Tommy, Charles and Kenneth.

A private service and burial for family and friends will be held in Middle Tennessee. A Celebration of Life service honoring Summitt will take place at 7 p.m. July 14 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The service is open to the public.

Memorial gifts may be made to The Pat Summitt Foundation by visiting www.patsummitt.org/donate.

"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," Tyler Summitt said in a prepared statement.

Mayor Madeline Rogero tweeted Tuesday morning that the Henley Bridge lights will be changed to orange, white and blue Tuesday night "in remembrance of Coach Summitt's deep devotion to Knoxville."

EDITORIAL:Game changer Pat Summitt deserves all her praise

Summitt, who was born in Clarksville, was the fourth of five children and the first girl for Hazel and Richard Head. She grew up on a farm doing such chores as chopping tobacco, plowing fields and baling hay. She never missed a day of school from kindergarten through high school.

During her formative years, she played basketball with her brothers in the hayloft of the family's barn.

Summitt attended UT Martin, graduating in 1974. The late Helen B. Watson, the former chairperson of UT's Physical Education Department, hired Summitt to be a graduate teaching assistant. Watson later called back to inform Summitt that then-women's basketball coach Margaret Hutson had decided to take a sabbatical and offered Summitt the coaching position. Summitt, then Pat Head, was 22 years old.

"I was absolutely overwhelmed and scared to death," Summitt said then.

She was a quick study, as evidenced by her all-time record of 1,098-208 (.840). She coached 47 percent of her games against ranked opponents and also had a .913 winning percentage at home (504-48). Her victory total was the most for any men's or women's coach in NCAA Division I basketball history.

Summitt topped her 38-year career by coaching a final season (2011-12) after her Alzheimer's diagnosis. She then stepped down to become the program's head coach emeritus.

"We’d go around and she would say, 'This is my boss,'" Cronan said. "I always said Pat never had a boss."

Summitt has been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (1999), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2000) and the FIBA Hall of Fame (2013).

The Pat Summitt Plaza, which features a statue of her, was built across from Thompson-Boling Arena and dedicated in November 2013.

"Icons are rare breeds," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said, "and Pat Summitt was a very rare breed."

President Obama announced on April 19, 2012, that Summitt had received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was honored at the White House on May 29. The president issued a four-paragraph statement Tuesday morning, which reflected the wealth of reaction to her death. He called Summitt a "patriot" and "a hero to millions of Americans, including my two daughters."

The "We Back Pat" campaign began almost immediately after Summitt's medical announcement. Fighting Alzheimer's became her cause before her coaching career ended as well. At halftime of a game against then-No. 1 Baylor on Nov. 27, 2011, at the arena, Summitt and Tyler announced the formation of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. The foundation was established to make grants to nonprofit organizations that provide Alzheimer's education and research as well as support services.

"Tyler and I have decided it's time for us to join this battle," Summitt said at the time. "It's time for us to turn this obstacle into a stepping stone leading to a cure."

Foundation officials and The University of Tennessee Medical Center announced last year a new strategic partnership to significantly expand the scope and capacity of the Medical Center's existing Alzheimer's Clinic and establish the Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Clinic.

"Obviously the first thing we want to do on behalf of the Board is express our deep sorrow to Pat's family on her passing," said Jim Haslam, the chairman of the foundation's board of directors in a prepared statement.

"Alzheimer's is such a horrific disease and as you know currently has no cure. Since Pat was diagnosed in 2011 she dedicated her life to this Foundation in the hope of helping find a cure. We will continue that work on her behalf and in fact will open the Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Clinic at the UT Medical Center by the end of this year.

"On a personal note, there are not many icons that you come in contact (with) in your lifetime and we all were fortunate to know one, Pat Summitt. Her work ethic, her dedication to the young women she coached, and her integrity in everything she did will never be equaled. She set the standard for excellence in academics, athletics and life. She was a role model and an inspiration and we are all enriched for having known her."

Summitt still attended some Tennessee games last season. Tyler said in March that his mother had moved into Sherrill Hill in late January while her regular home underwent renovation.

A pilgrimage of former Lady Vols players and coaches to Summitt's side began Thursday and continued into Monday. Cierra Burdick, who played at UT from 2011-14, visited Sunday and came away with "peace of mind."

"I was always impressed with how all of her former players spoke about her," former UT quarterback Peyton Manning said in a university release. "You speak to people like Tamika Catchings or Chamique Holdsclaw and they just talk about the role that Pat played in all their lives on and off the court. You can just tell the impact that she had on those players."