It was probably inevitable that Pat Head Summitt called it a career after this season. Dealing with Alzheimer's made her job much more difficult, and despite her remarkable will - this is a woman who made a recruiting visit while she was in labor, remember - there's only so much you can reasonably expect.
She's been named Coach Emeritus, which will allow her to stay a part of the team, although assistant Holly Warlick will now be the head coach.
When you stop and consider her legacy, it's really rather staggering. Geno Auriemma has arguably surpassed her, but like Anson Dorrance, she was there at the dawn of her sport and she did an incredible amount to define the women's game.
The only good thing about all of this, and by that we mean for fans, not for Summitt, is that we get to see past the steely exterior to see a different side, a softer side than she projected as a cut-throat competitor.
We hope for her, and for everyone who suffers from this dreadful disease, that science will learn to roll it back.
