Pat Summitt’s death left an impression on former USC coach Linda Sharp

As wonderful as she was as a coach she was so much more as a person.

Summitt stepped down as coach following the 2011-12 season due to the illness after building a 1,098-208 record in 38 seasons as coach at Tennessee.

Legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt died at the age of 64 after a 5-year battle with early onset dementia, Alheimer’s type on Tuesday.

“No one in our sport would be as far as we are now, without her”, Harper said.

But Summitt was much more than a basketball coach.

In the years following Title IX, Summit’s dominance helped elevate the women’s game from relative obscurity to what we see today. “So I said ‘sure, I’d love to.’ So she came down”. She created a brand called the Lady Vols.

Harper was a point guard on Summitt’s Lady Vols teams from 1995-99.

It’s no secret playing for Summitt was intense. Teacher, coach and mentor, Pat Summitt, will be missed, but hopefully her lessons and successes with our young people will continue. She “won” every day of her life because of the relationships she developed, nurtured and cherished. And in turn, her players felt a duty to not let her down.

And with the passing of Summitt, “I hope and pray” future generations don’t ever forget what a trailblazer she was, Mast said, and that “they keep this history alive”.

“You always remember her as a fighter”, Henry says. “It’s her personality, the presence, what she demanded of herself”.

“She’s a hero, she’s a legend.and as you grow older, you start to learn responsibility, taking care of yourself, and I can give respect to her because she taught me all that”. He played pick-up games with the players and worked developmental camps with the team.

And it wasn’t just her players. Then in 1996, Georgia and Tennessee played for a national title. I was a member of the Medalist Advisory Committee for basketball.

“She always wanted to share her knowledge”.

John Yang looks back at her life. “She’s changed the way women’s basketball is played”. She lost all three.

“You do not support other universities, and that even goes for my alma mater”, she said, motioning to the T-shirt she had on for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team. “They were just first-class people”.