Legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt pased away early Tuesday morning after losing a courageous battle with early onset dementia.
Summitt served as head women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee for 38 years from 1974-2012, winning 8 national championships and holds the most wins of any Division I basketball coach with 1,098 career victories. In April of 2012, Summitt stepped down as head coach of Tennessee following her diagnosis of early onset dementia, but remained involved with team as she was named honorary head coach.
Assuming the role as head coach at the age of 22, Summitt was the forefront leader in growth women’s basketball from its inception with the creation Title IX in 1972. Summitt was also known for keeping holding her student-athletes accountable in the classroom as she graduated 100% of her student-athletes that completed their eligibility at Tennessee.
The Aggies and Lady Vols met twice on the hardwood with Summitt as head coach. Their first meeting was in December 1997 when the Lady Vols defeated A&M 105-81 at the Northern Lights Challenge in Anchorage, Alaska as the Aggies recorded the most points scored on the Lady Vols undefeated, national champion squad. In their more notable match-up, Tennessee eliminated Texas A&M in the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in route to Summitt’s eighth and final national championship. It was game in which Candace Parker, one of Summitt’s most decorated players, played through a dislocated shoulder and scored 26 points to lead the Lady Vols to a 53-45 comeback victory.
Texas A&M women’s basketball head coach Gary Blair told 12thman.com that without Summitt, women’s collegiate basketball would not have the success that it has today. Blair also said that Summitt was a trailblazer on and off the hardwood leading the charge in recruiting and intensity among others.
“I can’t even imagine where our game would be without Pat,”  Blair told 12thman.com “Her legacy will be the impact she has had on us all. It extends beyond her Lady Vol family and includes any of us who have competed on every level. I’m honored to have competed against her and proud to have called her my friend.”