Legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt steps down - NBA Update
The Tennessee Lady Vols will never be the same again.
Last Wednesday Pat Summitt, the long time Tennessee coach announced her retirement.
The decision was always on the cards after Summitt had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last year. With this announcement, her legacy of 38 seasons has come to an end. She will be replaced by Holly Warlick, her long time
assistant, who has been leading the team after Summitt disclosed her ailment back in August.
The coaching legend made her retirement official on Wednesday during a press conference.
"I've loved being the head coach at Tennessee for 38 years, but I recognize that the time has come to move into the future and to step into a new role," Summitt said in a statement. "I support Holly Warlick being named the next
head coach, and I want to help ensure the stability of the program going forward.”
Summitt has rendered great services to the women basketball and took Tennessee to great heights. Under her watch, the team won 8 national championships and appeared in 13 national title games. She has more victories (1,098) under
her belt than any other man or women in sports.
The team has not sidelined her from the game completely and have added her to the team staff as a consultant;
“I would like to emphasize that I fully intend to continue working as head coach emeritus, mentoring and teaching life skills to our players, and I will continue my active role as a spokesperson in the fight against Alzheimer's
through the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund”. Added Summit at the conference;
The 59 year old coach started her professional career in 1974 with Lady Vols. Due to her unprecedented achievements, in April 2000; she was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century.
She never had a losing season in her coaching career which is stretched over a span of almost 4 decades. She was placed at the 11th number amongst 50 greatest All Time Coaches by Sporting News in 2009 and has concluded
her career with 1098-208 record with 0.841 percent winning record.
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