Legendary U.S. women's basketball coach Pat Summitt dies at 64

[June 28, 2016]    (Reuters) - Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in U.S. Division I college basketball history, died on Tuesday at the age of 64, the University of Tennessee said.

President Barack Obama awards a 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom to former University of Tennessee basketball coach Pat Summitt during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, May 29, 2012. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Summitt, who coached the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols women's team, announced in August 2011 that she had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia.

“Pat was the greatest coach of all time," university Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a statement. "Her fierce spirit will live on through her players and through all of us who were inspired by her on a daily basis."

Summitt recorded 1,098 career victories, the most in Division I college basketball history for a men's or women's coach, before stepping down in 2012. She coached the Lady Vols to eight national championships in her 38 seasons at the school.

Summitt was hired as the Lady Vols' head coach in 1974.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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