Tennessee legend Pat Summitt dead at 64

The basketball community is sad today, as we said farewell to the great, legendary coach, Pat Summitt. For the past few years (2011), Summitt has been battling Alzheimer's disease. Which led her to walk away from being on the sidelines for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. She may no longer be here, however, her legacy will always remain, and the character she portrayed will never falter.

Coach Summitt was a coach that influenced not only the lives of the players she coached, however, other individuals as well. She carried herself at a high level rather she was coaching or not.

In her 38 years at the helm of Tennessee, Summitt was the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history -€” including on the men's side as well. She finished her career with an overall record of 1098-208 record.

Amazing! That record speaks for itself, and she clearly knew how to win.

Included in that record are 16 SEC Championships and Tournament titles, won eight NCAA titles, eight SEC Coach of the Year awards, seven NCAA Coach of the Year award, and in 2000 was honored as the Naismith Coach of the Century award.

She helped shaped young women into not only great players at Tennessee, but extending the "Pat way" to the next level. There have been 72% of her players who have gone on to be decorated as Olympians, All-Americans, USA National Team members, All-SEC performers, Academic All-Americans.

In 2011, Summitt was awarded the United States Sports Academy Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award for her strong spirit in her public battle with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type.

With her public announcement, the basketball community all supported her with thoughts and prayers as she fought this disease. In October of that same year, she was honored with the Maggie Dixon Courage Award. To publicly announce what she was battling, took nothing but courage to speak on and not fight the disease alone.

The Tennessee Communication Association selected Summitt for its most prestigious award, Communicator of the Year in 2011 to go along with Game Changer award from the Huffington Post.

While she is known for being a great coach, she is also known for giving back to the community. In August of 2008, Summitt gave $600,000 to the University of Tennessee. The donation was split between the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Martin to support the women's basketball programs on each campus. To honor her parents, Richard and Hazel Head, $100,000 of that contribution was given for the scholarship for a Lady Vols basketball graduate assistant.

Summitt is the only coach to have two basketball courts being used by Division 1 basketball teams. At the University of Tennessee at Martin -€” her alma mater -€” a street on campus is named after her called the Pat Head Summitt Drive, and the court in Skyhawk Arena is named the Pat Head Summitt Court.

The court was christened by her Lady Vols when they took home the victory, 73-32. In 2005 the University of Tennessee held a surprise postgame ceremony, naming the basketball court, the Summitt. There also is a street name on campus called the Pat Summit Head Street.

What others may not know about Summitt, is she has a book, a best-seller, called Reach for the Summit which gives a businesslike philosophy of coaching and then the book, Raising the Roof came out. HBO released a documentary about her fifth NCAA Championship team called a Cinderella season: The 1997 Lady Vols Fight back, as well as becoming the first female coach to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

She truly created a great legacy that was reached by millions through her coaching, donating, documentaries and books she wrote.

Her success did not stop just at Tennessee, as she coached at the international level bringing home plenty of gold medals. She was a player for the U.S Olympic Team, but the next year she was coaching the U.S Junior National team; Summitt led the team to two gold medals. If that isn't remarkable, I don't know what is. Player one year, then head coach and bringing home the highest medal there is.

In 1979, she coached the U.S National Team in the William R. Jones Cup Games, the 1979 World Championships and the 1979 Pan American Games, bringing home two gold medals and one silver medal. No matter what level, Summitt knew how to win. What she also won at was life.

A life where she was family oriented, a hard worker, courageous, a leader and a mother to more than just her son Tyler Summitt.

She will be missed by thousands of people who grew to love, admire and were inspired by her. Coach Summitt just celebrated her 64^th birthday on June 14^th.

May we all continue to "Pat Back" and celebrate her life by working hard, giving back and enriching other individuals lives.

Here is a chronological list of the late Pat Summitt's awards:

1983    NCAA Coach of the Year
1983    WBCA/Converse Coach of the Year
1987    NCAA Coach of the Year
1987    Naismith College Coach of the Year
1989    NCAA Coach of the Year
1989    Naismith College Coach of the Year
1990    Summitt received the most prestigious award given by the Basketball Hall of Fame, the John Bunn Award. Summitt was the first female to win the award in the Hall's history.
1990    Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame
1993    SEC Coach of the Year
1994    NCAA Coach of the Year
1994    Naismith College Coach of the Year
1994    Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, Ohio
1995    SEC Coach of the Year
1995    SEC Coach of the Year
1995    NCAA Coach of the Year
1995    WBCA/Converse Coach of the Year
1996    "Distinguished Citizen of the Year" by the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
1996    inducted into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's Hall of Fame
1997    Governor Ned McWherter Award of Excellence
1997    Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, Ohio
1997    Casey Award, which is annually presented by the Kansas City Sports Commission.
1997    Honored at White House and named one of "25 Most Influential Working Mothers" as selected by Working Mother magazine
1998    NCAA Coach of the Year
1998    Naismith College Coach of the Year
1998    IKON/WBCA Coach of the Year
1998    City of Knoxville's "1998 Woman of the Year."
1998    Glamour magazine's "1998 Women of the Year,"
1998    Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, Ohio
1999    Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
1999    ARETE Award for Courage in Sports
1999    WISE 1999 Women of the Year
2000    Naismith Coach of the Century
2000    Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
2001    SEC Coach of the Year
2003    SEC Coach of the Year
2004    SEC Coach of the Year
2004    NCAA Coach of the Year
2004    Naismith College Coach of the Year
2007    SEC Coach of the Year
2007     "Winged Foot" Award by the New York Athletic Club
2007    2007 Dick Enberg Award winner by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)
2007    Named one of "Americas Best Leaders for 2007" by U.S. News & World Report
2008    John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching lifetime achievement award
2008     "Winged Foot" Award by the New York Athletic Club
2008    Best Coach/Manager (collegiate or pro level) ESPY
2008    Joe Lapchick Character Award
2009    Honorary doctorate from the United States Sports Academy
2009    2009 WNBA Inspiring Coach Award
2009    RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Victory Club Award for 1,000 career wins
2011    SEC Coach of the Year
2011    Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award by The United States Sports Academy
2011    Maggie Dixon Courage Award
2011    Named a 2011 Game Changer by The Huffington Post
2011    Communicator of the Year by The Tennessee Communication Association
2011    Third member of the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame
2011    2011 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year alongside 2011 Sportsman of the Year, Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski
2012    Presidential Medal of Freedom
2012    Lifetime Achievement Award from the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
2012    Named to the U.S. Department of State's Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports
2012    Pop Warner Female Achievement Award
2012    Global ATHENA Leadership Award
2012    Tennessean of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
2012    Michael J. Cleary Merit of Honor Award by NACDA
2012    Arthur Ashe Courage Award
2012    Billie Jean King Legacy Award presented by the USTA
2012    UT Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumna Award
2012    Knoxville Association of Women Executives Notable Woman Award
2012    The NCAA also honored her legacy, and that of UCLA men's basketball coaching great John Wooden, by naming a room in its new Myles Brand headquarters building the Summitt-Wooden Room
2013    AARP Andrus Lifetime Achievement Award
2013    New York Athletic Club "Winged Foot" Legend Award
2013    Mannie Jackson - Basketball's Human Spirit Award
2013    FIBA Hall of Fame
2013    Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award presented by CoSIDA