Pat Summitt, Legendary Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach, Dies at 64

Legendary women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, who coached the University of Tennessee to eight national titles and racked up the most wins in Division I college basketball history, died Tuesday morning at age 64.

After 38 years at Tennessee, Summitt stepped down in 2012 after disclosing that she was suffering from early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type.

Her son, Tyler Summitt, confirmed her death in a statement Tuesday morning.

"Since 2011, my mother has battled her toughest opponent, early onset dementia, 'Alzheimer's Type,' and she did so with bravely fierce determination just as she did with every opponent she ever faced," he said in the statement. "Even though it's incredibly difficult to come to terms that she is no longer with us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this disease."

After the news of Summitt's death broke, Twitter lit up with tributes from everyone from the NCAA and the Lady Vols to former players and fellow Tennessee legend Peyton Manning.

We have lost a legend. Our deepest condolences to Coach Summitt's family, friends and fans: https://t.co/2SANNoOcx7 pic.twitter.com/wXlhy6Es55
— NCAA (@NCAA) June 28, 2016

#Pat ...Unparalleled Impact https://t.co/LX1WpJcw76 pic.twitter.com/jAROi4AZ5S
— Lady Vol Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) June 28, 2016

Statement from Peyton Manning on the passing of Pat Summitt. pic.twitter.com/M9AJ7UlWpi
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) June 28, 2016

Summitt, who was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, announced her diagnosis in 2011, but she planned to continue coaching. "This is not a pity party," she said at the time, according to CNN. "We're not going to sit here and feel sorry for Pat Summitt."

Summitt's 1,098 wins are the most of any Division I basketball coach; she finished her career as one of only four coaches to win at least 1,000 games. She also led the 1984 U.S. Women's team to Olympic gold and was named the Naismith Coach of the Century in 2000.

But her impact was felt beyond the confines of women's college basketball, and even sports itself. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"When I think about my two daughters, who are tall and gifted, and knowing that because of folks like Coach Summitt they're standing up straight and diving after loose balls and feeling confident and strong, then I understand that the impact that these people have had extends beyond me," Obama said at the ceremony. "It will continue for generations to come."

Summitt was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1952. She attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, where she played for the school's first women's basketball coach, Nadine Gearin. She served as co-captain of the first U.S. women's national basketball team in the first Olympic women's tournament at the 1976 games which won the silver medal.

She was named head coach at Tennessee at age 22.

Summitt is survived by her son, Tyler, as well as her mother, sister, three brothers and three sisters-in-law, according to NBC News.

Photo credit: Flickr via Wikimedia Commons