Pat Summitt recieves outpouring of support as health declines

Pat Summitt"s Family Is Reportedly "Preparing For The Worst"

Published: Mon, June 27, 2016 @ 12:05 a.m.

Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.

Pat Summitts family said Sunday that the last few days have been difficult for the former Tennessee womens basketball coach as her Alzheimers disease progresses.

Amid reports of Summitts failing health, her family issued a statement asking for prayers and saying that the 64-year-old Summitt is surrounded by the people who mean the most to her. It also asked for privacy.

The statement was posted on the Pat Summitt Foundations website and was issued by Erin Freeman, a spokeswoman for the Summitt family.

Former Tennessee player Tamika Catchings was flying to Knoxville to visit the coach instead of returning to Indiana with the WNBAs Fever. Other former players were issuing support on Twitter through the PrayForPat hashtag. Phoenix Mercury center and Tennessee alum Isabelle Harrison said former Lady Volunteers players were keeping up with Summitts situation in a group text-message chain.

There are like 30 of us in a group chat right now talking, and people are flying into Knoxville and trying to see her, Harrison said Sunday after the Mercurys victory over the New York Liberty. You just didnt expect any of this to happen. Everyones trying to fill each other in with any information they have.

Harrison said she often went to Summitts home and rehabbed with her last year while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended the post players senior season at Tennessee prematurely. They also occasionally went to practice together.

I was at practice one day watching some of the girls, [and a] freshman took a fast shot, Harrison said. [Summitt] looked at me and was like, What was wrong was that? I was like, She shot too quick. [She said], Yeah, thats right. [Summitt] still had it.

The update about Summitts condition brought a flood of support from throughout the sports world.

An outpouring of concern on social media came from rival coaches such as South Carolinas Dawn Staley, Notre Dames Muffet McGraw and Vanderbilts Stephanie White. Other sympathetic tweets came from sports figures as varied as Billie Jean King and Steve Spurrier.

Summitt stepped down as Tennessees coach in 2012, one year after announcing her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimers type. She went 1,098-208 with eight national titles. She has the most career wins of any Division I mens or womens basketball coach.

Since her diagnosis, Summitt has played a leading role in the fight against Alzheimers. She launched the Pat Summitt Foundation, which is dedicated to researching and educating people about the disease while also providing services to patients and caregivers. The Pat Summitt Alzheimers Clinic is scheduled to open at the University of Tennessee medical center in December.

Source: http://www.vindy.com/news/2016/jun/27/pat-summitt-receives-outpouring-of-suppo/?newswatch