A spokesperson for the Summitt family confirmed Sunday in a statement that Summitt’s battle with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s Type, was “progressing”, and Dr. Chris Stephens – senior pastor at Knoxville’s Faith Promise Church – told Hill during his show Monday afternoon that Summitt “probably” won’t survive more than a “few days”.
Advertisement
“She is surrounded by those who mean the most to her and during this time, we ask for prayers for Pat and her family and friends, as well as your utmost respect and privacy”, said the statement, posted on the Pat Summitt Foundation website. She left basketball in March 2012, just a few months after being diagnosed with early onset dementia.
A source told News Sentinel that Pat isn’t doing well and her friends and family are preparing to say their final goodbye.
Calls for prayers for former University of Tennessee basketball coach Pat Summitt.
Summitt finished her coaching career with an. “Even though it’s incredibly hard 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”.
The family of Lady Vols legendary coach Pat Summitt announced Sunday that Summitt’s health has taken a turn for the worse. She cut back on public appearances in recent years.
Summitt and her family became crusaders for Alzheimer’s research. She cast an enormous shadow on women’s basketball and her beloved Lady Vols.
Summitt’s career ended with a record of 1098-208 (.840) at Tennessee after the 2011-2012 season, where she led the Lady Vols to their 16th SEC Tournament title and to the Elite 8. She later served as a co-captain of the women’s national basketball team in the Olympics in Montreal in 1976, the first year women’s basketball was an Olympic sport, leading the team to a silver medal. The school hired her as an assistant coach and graduate teaching assistant after she graduated from UT-Martin in 1974.
Pat was really impressed and one afternoon I asked her for a favor; would she mind going up in the nose-bleed seats of UTC Arena and telling me about what made her into the legend she already was? “She’s done that from Day One”.
Advertisement
While in high school, her parents moved from Clarksville, TN, to Henrietta, TN, because the high school where they lived did not have a girls’ basketball team.
