Pat Summitt, Univ. of TN women’s basketball coach, dead at 64

KNOXVILLE, Tn. (CNN/WTVQ) – A legendary women’s basketball coach and a champion for women has died.

Pat Summitt, who built the University of Tennessee’s Lady Volunteers into a perennial power died on Tuesday at a retirement facility surrounded by those who meant the most to her.  Summitt was just 64 years old.

Since 2011, Summitt has battled early onset dementia.  In her 38 years at Tennessee, Summitt won eight national titles and one thousand and 98-games — the most by any division one basketball coach of any gender.  Her teams made an unprecedented 31 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament.

She retired in 2012, a year after she was diagnosed.

Summitt received several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Summitt’s son, Tyler, released a statement saying a private service and burial will be held in middle Tennessee.  He also said there will be a public celebration of her life which will take place in one of her favorite places, Thompson-Boling Arena.

The University of Tennessee also issued a statement, saying that Summit was “a global icon who transcended sports and spent her entire life making a difference in other people’s lives.”