Legendary Coach Pat Summitt to Speak at Minnesota Alzheimer's Conference

Doctors call it an epidemic and in Minnesota almost 98,000 people are suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

This weekend hundreds of people from across the country are coming to St. Paul to talk about dementia and there will be a special guest on hand to help. Pat Summitt will speak during a conference called "Meeting of the Minds" hosted by the Alzheimer's Association and Mayo Clinic.

Summitt is the winningest college basketball coach of all time, capturing 8 national titles during her 38 year career. In 2011, Summitt announced that doctors at Mayo clinic had diagnosed her with early onset Alzheimer's.

"What courage it takes to step outside of your box that you are used to being in and say, 'I am going through something and it's difficult and I'm going to need help but I'm also going to fight it,'" said Michelle Marciniak, who played for the Lady Vols under Summitt.

Marciniak remembers when her former coach started to change.

Pat Summitt given New York Athletic Club Legends Award

University of Tennessee women’s head coach emeritus Pat Summitt was given the New York Athletic Club Winged Foot Legends’ Award on Tuesday.

“We are privileged that Coach Summitt has accepted our Legends’ Award,” James W. O’Brien, Chairman of the Winged Foot Award Committee, said in a news release. “If there is any coach who merits the title ‘legend,’ it is certainly she.”