Pat Summitt's son: "God has bigger plan for her"

(CBS News) Pat Summitt, the 59-year-old University of Tennessee women's basketball coach who revealed she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia last year, officially announced her retirement Thursday.

Her only child, Tyler Summitt, said on Friday "CBS This Morning" that his mother is stepping into a new role. She will become head coach emeritus at the school and focus on her efforts as spokesperson in the fight against the disease through The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund."We've always known that God has had a bigger plan for her than just coaching basketball," he said. "And so, she's stepping into a new role where she can still mentor her players and be a role model for them."

When asked how he and his mother will face this challenge, Summitt said, "Well, I think we'll just trust that God has a plan and we'll just take it one day at a time. She's always said, 'left foot, right foot, breathe.' And it's just one step at a time. And that's how we've done everything."

Summitt won more games than anyone else in NCAA college basketball during her 38 years at Tennessee. President Obama announced on Thursday that he would present Summitt with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that a citizen can receive. The honor is not only for her stellar basketball career, but for her efforts to highlight and fight Alzheimer's disease.

Watch Dean Reynolds' report on Pat Summitt's announcement in the video below.

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Tyler Summitt spent two seasons as a member of the Tennessee men's basketball team (2010-12) and spent one season (2009-10) as a student assistant coach on the Lady Vols' bench under his mother's tutelage. And in bit of irony, on the day his mother announced her retirement, Tyler announced he would be joining the Marquette University women's basketball team as an assistant coach.

"Discipline always came first, so that was a priority in our house," Tyler Summitt said of his mother. "That goes with parenting and coaching. And then with coaching, she made sure I knew to always do the right thing and treat people the right way. That's part of the reason why I went to Marquette. ... I'm very excited to go there."

Watch Tyler Summitt's full "CBS This Morning" interview in the video above.