Pat Summitt announced she is stepping aside as Tennessee’s women’s basketball coach and taking the title of “head coach emeritus,” with longtime assistant Holly Warlick being promoted to replace the sport’s winningest coach.

The 59-year-old Summitt will report to the athletic director and help the women’s program she guided to eight national titles. The move comes less than a year after Summitt’s diagnosis with early onset dementia-Alzheimer’s type.

AUDIO Pat Summitt’s press conference (12:45)

“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.

Pat Summitt, Tennessee women’s basketball coach, announced she was stepping down less than a year after she announced she had been diagnosed with early on-set dementia. Longtime assistant Holly Warlick, who led the team after Summitt announced her condition in August, will be the new head coach.

“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 in a statement. “I support Holly Warlick being named the next head coach, and I want to help ensure the stability of the program going forward. I would like to emphasize that I fully intend to continue working as head coach emeritus, mentoring and teaching life skills to our players, and I will continue my active role as a spokesperson in the fight against Alzheimer’s through the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund.”

Missouri coach Robin Pingeton released this statement. 

“Coach Summitt has been a great role model for so many.  “In her years of coaching she has broken down so many  barriers for women in basketball while building a first class program.  She helped lay the foundation for so many others like myself.  I hold her in the highest regard and wish her nothing but the best.”

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