They've faced each other in battle for years. But when University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt recently revealed a devastating diagnosis, it impacted many people, including colleagues and competitors like Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw.
Summitt, 59, was struggling mentally and physically and after her team's season she went to Mayo Clinic for a battery of tests.
On Aug. 23 Summitt announced doctors diagnosed her with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type.
Summitt, in her 39th year, is the all time winningest coach for men and women, with more than 1,000 wins, 18 Final Fours and eight national championships.
She's now a spokeswoman for dementia and Alzheimer's. Her doctor told her to retire immediately, but, she plans to coach for at least three more years. Mcgraw says she's not surprised.
"I think it will be difficult for her, but she's faced adversity before and come up pretty well," McGraw says. "If you look at your mortality and think I only have so many years left to do what I want to do, you want to go out fighting, you want to go out enjoying what you're doing."
