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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. >> Pat Summitts family said Sunday that the last few days have been difficult for the former Tennessee womens basketball coach as her Alzheimers disease progresses.
Amid reports of Summitts failing health, her family issued a statement asking for prayers and saying that the 64-year-old Summitt is surrounded by the people who mean the most to her. It also asked for privacy.
Former Tennessee player Tamika Catchings was flying to Knoxville to visit the coach instead of returning to Indiana with the WNBAs Fever. Other former players and those in the University of Tennessee and the womens basketball communities were issuing support on Twitter through the PRAYFORPAT hashtag.
Summitt stepped down as Tennessees coach in 2012, one year after announcing her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimers type. She went 1,098-208 with eight national titles. She has the most career wins of any Division I mens or womens basketball coach.
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Since her diagnosis, Summitt has played a leading role in the fight against Alzheimers. She launched the Pat Summitt Foundation, which is dedicated to researching and educating people about the disease while also providing services to patients and caregivers. The Pat Summitt Alzheimers Clinic is scheduled to open at the University of Tennessee medical center in December.
When she fights this disease, what she has taught all of us is how to do it with courage, former Tennessee womens athletic director Joan Cronan said at a 2015 charity event honoring Summitt. Shes done that from Day One. Its been about (how) we can find a cure for this disease, and she has done it facing it straight-on and shes done it giving back as she always has.
Summitt continues to hold a position as head coach emeritus of the Tennessee womens basketball team. She attended nearly every home game and many practices in the first year after stepped down as coach, though she had a less visible role in subsequent seasons. She cut back on public appearances in recent years.
Source: http://www.middletownpress.com/article/MI/20160626/SPORTS/160629689
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