UT Martin honors former player, basketball legend Pat Summitt

MARTIN, Tenn. — Pat Summitt is represented on UT Martin’s campus by monuments, a street name, and a basketball court.

She passed away Tuesday morning after being diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 64.

“She was an inspiration. She was an excellent basketball player, a very skilled basketball player,” former Women’s Athletic Director at UT Martin Bettye Giles said about Summitt.

Giles played a major role in Summitt’s 38-year coaching career.

“She was going to school, working on a master’s degree. She was teaching three or four P.E. classes, and she was going to be the assistant coach when she got there,” Giles said.

An immediate opening put Summitt as head coach in Knoxville. It turned into a career to which Skyhawk’s Interim Athletic Director Kevin McMillan said coaches nationwide can only aspire.

“The fire, and the competition, she made your team play to the best of their ability, which teams don’t do very often, but hers would do every night,” McMillan explained.

Summitt took the Lady Volunteers to 18 final fours, 8 national championships, and 1,098 wins in 38 years. She’s also the only Division I coach who had every student athlete graduate under her leadership.

“We’re thankful to be a part of Pat Summitt’s legacy,” McMillan said.

UT Martin alumni and friends are starting to place items to remember Summitt outside Elam Center on the Unversity’s campus. A private ceremony will be held for Summitt in Middle Tennessee, while a public ceremony is being planned at Thompson-Boling arena on Summitt’s home court in Knoxville.