The iconic Tennessee coach led the Lady Vols to eight national titles, with 1,098 career wins, and became the face of finding a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Knoxville, Tennessee. Pat Summitt, the great Lady Vols coach, was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, 70 years ago today.
Summitt was the head coach of the University of Tennessee’s women’s basketball team from 1974 to 2012.
Throughout her 38-year career, she was a trailblazer in women’s athletics, earning prestige for the Lady Vols.
Aside from her athletic abilities, Summitt is renowned for her passion to make a difference and her efforts to combat
Alzheimer’s disease following her own early diagnosis in August 2011.
She stepped down as head coach on April 18, 2012, and became coach emeritus while working to discover a
treatment for the disease through the Pat Summitt Foundation, which she co-founded with her son, Tyler Summitt.
To commemorate her birthday, the foundation will organize a day of giving on Tuesday. Donations can be made
online at the organization’s website using this link. The organization has set a $70,000 goal, and all funds generated
will go toward programs and services that aid patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia.
This year would have been a huge one for Coach Summitt. She would be 70 years old and would have recently
learned that she will be the first woman elected into the United States Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame’s
coaching category. “What better way to honor her life and legacy than to raise funds for her foundation and help
those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” said Morgan Vance, director of advancement for the Pat Summitt
Foundation.
The organization also painted The Rock on the UT campus in celebration of Summitt’s birthday.
Summitt received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from former President
Barack Obama in 2012. At the 2012 ESPY Awards, fellow Vol Peyton Manning awarded her with the Arthur Ashe
Courage Award.
On November 22, 2013, UT installed a bronze statue honoring Pat Summitt across the street from Thompson-Boling
Arena.
