**Vols' Summitt diagnosed with dementia, will try to coach this year**

[Coach Hank Crisp]

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Former women's basketball players at Tennessee are getting calls Tuesday that Volunteers coach Pat Summitt, 59, has been diagnosed with dementia.

Summitt is the arguably the most successful coach in U.S. college basketball history -- male or female, pro or amateur -- with 1,071 career victories, eight national championships and an Olympic gold medal. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

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Pat Summitt diagnosed with early onset dementia
Lady Vols basketball coach has no plans to step down
By Dan Fleser
govolsxtra.com

Summitt went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in May. She underwent a series of tests and received a stunning answer. The diagnosis was early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

[pmull]

Coach Pat Summit is the face of Women's College basketball. She has been great for the women's game and the SEC. Hopefully she will have many more productive years whether or not those years include basketball. 

[BAMADCHAMPSHIPS]

That's too bad.

[cbbama99]

I really hate to hear this, especially at such a young age. Summitt could really get under my skin at times, but she is a true competitor and a heck'uva coach. Best wishes to her and her family. 

[Jamos]

This is sad, it's a terrible disease. 

[ricky023]

My prayers go out to her and family. Also, to the doctors who will be handling this case because there seems to be no cure. I know she has been a great coach but she is still human. God Bless! RTR!

[#1Tidefan]

My Mother passed away in 06 with Dementia...my hopes and my prayers are with Coach Summitt and the players and her family...

[#1Tidefan]

Coach Saban weighs in...

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Chase Goodbread
TideSports.com Senior Writer

Talk about it in Talk of Champions
TUSCALOOSA | With the news that legendary University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, University of Alabama coach Nick Saban offered best wishes to Summitt and her family.

The two aren't strangers.

"I do know Pat Summitt," Saban said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for her as a person and as a coach, who's probably achieved as much as anyone in our profession. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. I hope that she can continue to affect young people and live a normal healthy life for many years to come."

Summitt, 59, has won eight national championships and 1,071 games in a storied career at UT, and plans to coach her 38th season this year.

"There's not going to be any pity party and I'll make sure of that," Summitt told The Knoxville News-Sentinel.

According to medterms.com, dementia is defined as a significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory capacity, severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning. Criteria for the diagnosis includes impairment of attention, orientation, memory, judgment, language, motor and spatial skills, and function.

"Certainly she has made a mark in our profession that few will be able to match or challenge, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the way her players always compete and respond to her and have a tremendous amount of loyalty to her," Saban said.

[ssmith general]

Good news is ...

She caught it early and they have made huge strides in medication these days.

Still sad for anyone to go down like that.

[2Stater]

Good news is ...

She caught it early and they have made huge strides in medication these days.

Still sad for anyone to go down like that.

That's true for people in early stages. Not so much for those with advanced dimentia/ Alzheimer's. I have POA of my stepfather who is in the Bill Nichols State VA home in Alex City. He has severe dementia and you guys are right, it's a terrible disease. The good news is that more and more people are aware of it and the foundations are receiving more money than ever before. That's what it takes to conduct the research needed to come up with effective ways of dealing with it.

I'm glad she's coaching one more year there. I'd hate to see UT without any class at all.
 

[Coach Hank Crisp]

Good news is ...

She caught it early and they have made huge strides in medication these days.

Still sad for anyone to go down like that.

That's true for people in early stages. Not so much for those with advanced dimentia/ Alzheimer's. I have POA of my stepfather who is in the Bill Nichols State VA home in Alex City. He has severe dementia and you guys are right, it's a terrible disease. The good news is that more and more people are aware of it and the foundations are receiving more money than ever before. That's what it takes to conduct the research needed to come up with effective ways of dealing with it.

I'm glad she's coaching one more year there. I'd hate to see UT without any class at all.
 

My mother passed away from dimentia/ Alzheimer's diease in 2005. She started showing signs of early Alzheimers in the early 1990s. 

[2Stater]

Good news is ...

She caught it early and they have made huge strides in medication these days.

Still sad for anyone to go down like that.

That's true for people in early stages. Not so much for those with advanced dimentia/ Alzheimer's. I have POA of my stepfather who is in the Bill Nichols State VA home in Alex City. He has severe dementia and you guys are right, it's a terrible disease. The good news is that more and more people are aware of it and the foundations are receiving more money than ever before. That's what it takes to conduct the research needed to come up with effective ways of dealing with it.

I'm glad she's coaching one more year there. I'd hate to see UT without any class at all.
 

My mother passed away from dimentia/ Alzheimer's diease in 2005. She started showing signs of early Alzheimers in the early 1990s. 

Coach, it's a tough thing to witness isn't it?

[Coach Hank Crisp]

Good news is ...

She caught it early and they have made huge strides in medication these days.

Still sad for anyone to go down like that.

That's true for people in early stages. Not so much for those with advanced dimentia/ Alzheimer's. I have POA of my stepfather who is in the Bill Nichols State VA home in Alex City. He has severe dementia and you guys are right, it's a terrible disease. The good news is that more and more people are aware of it and the foundations are receiving more money than ever before. That's what it takes to conduct the research needed to come up with effective ways of dealing with it.

I'm glad she's coaching one more year there. I'd hate to see UT without any class at all.
 

My mother passed away from dimentia/ Alzheimer's diease in 2005. She started showing signs of early Alzheimers in the early 1990s. 

Coach, it's a tough thing to witness isn't it?

Very tough and very sad.

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