(Updates with more details, background)
By Tim Ghianni
NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 18 (Reuters) – Pat Summitt, the most
successful college basketball coach in U.S. history, stepped
down on Wednesday as head coach of the University of Tennessee
women’s team following the disclosure last year that she suffers
from early-onset dementia.
The university said on its website that Summitt, who has
more wins than any other coach of men’s or women’s college
basketball, would retain the title of “Head Coach Emeritus,” but
assistant Holly Warlick would assume the head coach position.
Summitt, 59, had coached the Tennessee women’s team since
1974 and compiled a record of 1,098 wins and 208 losses. Her
Tennessee Lady Vols teams won eight national championships.
“I’ve loved being the head coach at Tennessee for 38 years,
but I recognize that the time has come to move into the future
and to step into a new role,” Summitt said.
Summitt announced last August that she had been diagnosed
with early-onset dementia, but said she would continue coaching.
Known for her fiery presence, Summitt gradually retreated
from day-to-day coaching duties this season and was often seen
at games sitting quietly and allowing Warlick to take the lead
in coaching players from the bench.
She coached the U.S. women’s Olympic team to a gold medal at
the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and was elected to the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
“Just like there will never be another John Wooden, there
will never be another Pat Summitt,” Tennessee Director of
Athletics Dave Hart said in a statement, referring to Summitt as
an icon on a par with Wooden, the legendary men’s college coach
at UCLA who died in 2010.
(Editing by Greg McCune and Eric Beech)
