Pat Summitt (1952-2016)
Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history, is dead at 64, June 28, 2016. During her 38-year tenure at the University of Tennessee, she led the Lady Volunteers to more victories than anyone else in NCAA college basketball history.
In 2011, Summitt revealed she had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 59.
Coach Summitt stepped down in 2012. She never had a losing season during her career and uplifted the women's game from obscurity to national prominence. Many consider her the greatest coach of all time.
A look back at her career.
Pat Summitt
U.S. women's basketball coach Pat Summitt is carried off by members of the team following their Olympic gold medal win in Los Angeles, Aug. 8, 1984.
As co-captain, Summit led Team USA to a silver medal at the Montreal 1976 Olympics.
Pat Summitt
Head Coach Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee instructs player Michelle Marciniak in the championship game of the NCAA Women's Final Four against the University of Georgia played at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, March 31, 1996.
Summitt led the Lady Vols to eight national championships and prominence on a campus steeped in the traditions of the football-rich south until she retired in 2012.
Pat Summitt
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and son Tyler, 5, take down the net after winning the NCAA Women's Final Four against Georgia 83-65 at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., March 31, 1996.
Summitt helped grow college women's basketball as her Lady Vols dominated the sport in the late 1980s and 1990s, winning six titles in 12 years.
Tennessee -- the only school she coached -- won NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996-98 and 2007-08. Summitt had a career record of 1,098-208 in 38 seasons, plus 18 NCAA Final Four appearances.
Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt signals to her players in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Rutgers at the NCAA Women's Mideast Regional in Nashville, N.C., March 21, 1998.
Pat Summitt
Legendary Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt, left, and former Detroit Pistons all-star guard Isiah Thomas appear at a news conference to introduce the inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Oct. 13, 2000.
In 1999, Summitt was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame a year later.
Pat Summitt
Head coach Pat Summitt shouts to her team during the NCAA Women's Final Four against Duke at the Georgia Dome on April 6, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Pat Summitt
Head coach Pat Summitt talks to Shanna Zolman (1) of the Tennessee Lady Vols during a break in the action against the Michigan State Spartans in the Semifinal game of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt
Summitt talks with Alexis Hornbuckle #14, Alberta Auguste #33, Shannon Bobbitt #00 and Candace Parker #3 (R) during a timeout against the LSU Lady Tigers during their National Semifinal Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 6, 2008 in Tampa.
Pat Summitt
Head coach Pat Summitt and Candace Parker #3 of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers embrace as Parker comes out of the game late in the second half against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 8, 2008 in Tampa. Tennessee won 64-48.
Pat Summitt
The Tennessee Lady Vols celebrate with the trophy after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championship game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum, April 8, 2008 in Tampa.
Pat Summitt
Summitt has confetti dumped on her by players Alicia Manning (15) and Alex Fuller (2) after the Lady Vols defeated Georgia 73-43 an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., earning Summitt her 1,000th career coaching victory, Feb. 5, 2009.
To date, Summitt is the only coach in the history of women's basketball to win 1,000 games.
Pat Summitt
Summitt watches practice for an NCAA women's college basketball tournament regional semifinal in Dayton, Ohio, March 25, 2011.
She announced in 2011 at age 59 that she'd been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Summitt coached one more season before stepping down. She called her coaching career a "great ride."
At her retirement, Summitt's eight national titles ranked behind the 10 won by former UCLA men's coach John Wooden. UConn coach Geno Auriemma passed Summitt's retirement. "Pat's vision for the game of women's basketball and her relentless drive pushed the game to a new level and made it possible for the rest of us to accomplish what we did," Auriemma said at the time of her retirement.
Pat Summitt
Sports Illustrated Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year, College Basketball coaches Pat Summit and Mike Krzyzewski pose with former winners Chris Evert, David Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Wayne Gretzky and David Ortiz at the 2011 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award presentation at The IAC Building on December 6, 2011 in New York City.
When she stepped down from coaching, Summitt called her coaching career a "great ride."
Summitt started a foundation in her name to fight Alzheimer's in 2011 that has raised millions of dollars.
Pat Summitt
Tennessee Vols fans hold up a cardboard photo of women's basketball coach Pat Summitt during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57.
Peyton Manning said of Summit, "She could have coached any team, any sport, men's or women's. It wouldn't have mattered because Pat could flat out coach."
Pat Summitt
Summitt looks up at the confetti as she holds the championship trophy after Tennessee defeated LSU 70-58 in the championship game of the women's Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., March 4, 2012.
Pat Summitt
Summitt waves to the crowd during a half-time ceremony to honor past olympic coaches at an NCAA women's Final Four semifinal college basketball game between the Baylor and the Stanford in Denver., April 1, 2012.
Pat Summitt
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt directs her players in the first half of an NCAA women's college basketball tournament regional final against Baylor in Des Moines, Iowa, March 26, 2012.
Summitt was a tough taskmaster with a frosty glower that could strike the fear of failure in her players.
She punished one team that stayed up partying before an early morning practice by running them until they vomited. She even placed garbage cans in the gym so they'd have somewhere to be sick.
Pat Summitt
Summitt, right, associate head coach Holly Warlick, center, watch their team during the second half of an NCAA tournament first-round women's college basketball game against UT-Martin in Rosemont, Ill.
The university announced April 18, 2012, Summitt was stepping aside as Tennessee's women's basketball coach and taking the title of "head coach emeritus." Long-time assistant Holly Warlick was named as her successor.
Pat Summitt, Barack Obama
In 2013, President Barack Obama presented Summit with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in the East Room of the White House.
Looking on at left is author Toni Morrison who also received the Medal of Freedom.
Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt (1952-2016)
Summitt never had a losing record and her teams made the NCAA Tournament every season
She detailed her battle with dementia in a memoir, "Sum It Up," released in March 2013.
Her son, Tyler Summitt, issued a statement Tuesday morning, June 28, 2016, saying his mother died peacefully at Sherrill Hill Senior Living in Knoxville surrounded by those who loved her most.
"Since 2011, my mother has battled her toughest opponent, early onset dementia, 'Alzheimer's Type,' and she did so with bravely fierce determination just as she did with every opponent she ever faced," Tyler Summitt said. "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."