Summitt stays focused on team

Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:02 pm

By BETH RUCKER
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Pat Summitt has handled the talk about her dementia diagnosis the same way she manages Tennessee basketball and her life: with control and determination.
The Hall of Fame coach dictated how news of her condition was revealed in August and has made it clear since that she wants the focus to be on Lady Volunteers basketball program and not her.
“That’s the reason for when I came out with dementia and Alzheimer’s,” Summitt said. “I knew I had to do it, and I did it. I’ve got a good game plan. I feel good about it, and I think it motivated this team.”
She’s stuck to that plan, speaking reluctantly at practices about her diagnosis while steering conversations to Tennessee’s strengths, weaknesses and chances for a ninth national championship.
Today, she’ll face more questions about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease when she makes her first major public appearance for the annual Southeastern Conference media day in Birmingham, Ala.
“I don’t want it to be all about me. I want to be able to help other people know you can live your life with dementia,” Summitt said.
She’s got plenty of basketball to talk about, with the Lady Vols unanimously picked by the media this week to defend their SEC title and senior forward Shekinna Stricklen tabbed as the league’s preseason player of the year.
Assistant coach Dean Lockwood doesn’t think Summitt or anyone on the team will be distracted by talk of Summitt’s condition.
“Once you’ve accepted something, it becomes part of your daily existence. That’s part of us now,” Lockwood said. “They’ll answer questions, but after a while it’s going to become ‘ho hum.’ (The players are) very focused on doing well. I think maybe this has given them an incentive to do it even more for a coach they love and respect.”
Summitt made it clear to the Lady Vols when she told them in August she’d been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s that nothing would change for them. She was still their coach, and the plan to win a national championship this season hadn’t changed.
What has changed for Summitt is her daily routine. 
While drinking her morning coffee she’ll play brain-bender games on her iPad or work on math skills to help keep her mind sharp. She adds coconut oil to her daily protein shakes. Son Tyler Summitt writes out her to-do lists to keep her organized, and  Summitt occasionally will take a few extra breaks outside of her daily naps that she claims have been a key to her ongoing success. Published in The Messenger 10.27.11