The sport of basketball lost a legendary presence on Tuesday with the death of former Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt at the age of 64. Summitt was the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men’s or women’s, and was a staple in the community in Knoxville. Her 2011 diagnosis of early-onset dementia forced an abrupt retirement, and she lost the battle with the disease five years later. Tuesday morning, tributes poured out from all corners of the sports world, a testament to Summitt’s lasting impact on everybody who knew her, starting with President Obama.
JUST IN: Pres. Obama on the passing of Pat Summitt: "I was honored to award her the Presidential Medal of Freedom." pic.twitter.com/Ryb2lT3QsC
— ABC News (@ABC) June 28, 2016
Pat Summitt was such a fixture in college hoops for so long that it just now hit me that she was only 64. Too young. #RIPPatSummitt
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) June 28, 2016
A true legend is here no more, thoughts and 🙏🏿 to the Summitt family! We all have the ability to make change, very few of us actually do
— Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) June 28, 2016
Peyton Manning, who played football at Tennessee and is well aware of Summitt’s impact on the school, offered his condolences:
Statement from Peyton Manning on the passing of Pat Summitt. pic.twitter.com/M9AJ7UlWpi
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) June 28, 2016
Regardless the rivalry between us, we are always a basketball family with the love of the game. #RIHPatSummitt pic.twitter.com/gUYmjeoAx7
— Angel Robinson (@angelrobinson33) June 28, 2016
Here’s the statement from the WNBA, which featured many of Summitt’s former players over the years:
.@WNBAPrez, Lisa Borders statement on the passing of coaching legend, Pat Summitt. pic.twitter.com/RInn0p3jJ2
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 28, 2016
You don't think of Pat Summit as a woman. Or a women's coach.
You think of her instead as one of the best.
That..is breaking barriers.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) June 28, 2016
Pat Summitt, in one quote. https://t.co/H9CpdzyWZA pic.twitter.com/W3aIXwoktG
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) June 28, 2016
Here are a couple of pretty incredible stats about her sustained coaching prowess:
Every Lady Vol basketball player from 1976-2011 had the opportunity to play in at least one Final Four. #PatSummitt
— Hannah Storm (@HannahStormESPN) June 28, 2016
On average, Pat Summitt coached 35 games a season. On average, she won 30 of them. For 38 years.
— Ben Swain (@TheBenSwain) June 28, 2016
And the letter she got when she was offered the job as the Tennessee basketball coach.
https://twitter.com/si_vault/status/747767195577516033/photo/1
And, finally, the most appropriate last public words from Summitt herself, dug up by USA Today‘s Nicole Auerbach:
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/747759682815590400
Most people don’t receive tributes from this wide-ranging a group when they pass. Pat Summitt is not most people. The reactions to her death make it clear that she will never be forgotten, nor will her impact on the sport.
