She was tough. She could be terrifying.
She was also a second mother, a friend, and the best advocate the lucky women to get to wear the Lady Vol uniform could ever have.
The loss of Pat Summitt is huge for her family, friends, and fans. Most of her former players fall in all three categories.
"That stare was intimidating, it was very scary but you knew she had a good meaning behind it," former point guard Ariel Massengale said. "She was always there for us and we knew we could always count on her. You knew (the stare) was coming from a place that was nowhere but love."
"I wanted to be part of her legacy," she said. "I'm so grateful I had that opportunity."
As the news got out that Summitt was growing worse, former players from across the country made their way to Knoxville to see her one last time.
"We’ve had everybody from the ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000's here. It doesn’t matter your age, your background – this is a Lady Vol family. Whether you’ve met each other or not, you’re hugging it out," said Cierra Burdick. You’re crying together but you’re also rejoicing together. For the life that was lived and for the opportunity that you had to be apart of something so special.
Burdick arrived Sunday night and went straight from the airport to Pat's side. She wanted to tell her she loved her, and express her gratitude for all she'd done. It was tough, but healing.
"We definitely had our sad moments. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t cry or that we didn’t have tears falling, but we had each other to do that together. You felt better about it. You got your tears out and then you were able to tell stories, able to laugh, able to find peace. I’m so thankful that I was able to come to Knoxville. I was able to be with my family during this time, and it’s meant the world," she said.
The players were able to say a final thank you to the woman who'd changed their lives when she invited them to play for her legendary program.
"I met her a girl, and I left a woman,'" said Burdick, who was on Pat's final team. "She taught me how to be a good basketball player but an even better person. The great thing about Pat is that she led by example. She didn’t have to tell me ‘this is how you live.’ She was gonna show my by the way she lived each and every day."
Pat's players knew going in they weren't just enrolling at UT to play basketball.
They were not only expected to go to class, they were supposed to be on the front row. If they missed class, they missed the next game. No exceptions. They all knew the rules going in, and every one of them that completed their eligibility at Tennessee graduated.
Pat also made a promise to each and every player that she would help them off the court, and that vow did not have a graduation expiration date.
Candace Parker shared a photo of the letter Pat sent to her while she was being recruited, thanking Pat for keeping that promise.
You held true to your promises...and some. Thank you Coach for always being the perfect role model I love you. #RIP pic.twitter.com/HvA1mODwfP
— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) June 28, 2016
"Candace, I think I could help you on and off the court. I would do my best to help you develop as a player, person, and student. We could have lots of fun in the process. Think about it. I want to be your coach," the letter read.
Parker went on to say, "Thank you coach for always being the perfect role model. I love you."
Parker was one of 14 of Summitt's former players who have been Olympians, including Tamika Catchings, who will be on her fourth Olympic team later this summer in Rio de Janeiro.
"Once a Lady Vol, always a Lady Vol," was how Catchings described Summitt's motto to ESPN. "No matter where I go, or who I talk to, when they ask what college I went to and I say 'University of Tennessee,' they always talk about Pat and the legacy."
Tennessee women's basketball coach Holly Warlick called the impact Pat Summitt had on her life "profound."
Warlick was a player and assistant coach for Summitt before taking over the program after Summitt stepped down in 2012.
Warlick said she had the opportunity to "not only learn from the best, but know Pat as a friend" and said she'll "always treasure the laughter we shared, the stories we loved to tell."
Pam Marr also cherishes those special moments that only the players got to experience.
"So much of the general public sees her as a celebrity, and she is, but we knew Pat. Just Pat. It was very special to us, and we tried to help the public understand what Pat was like. We’re just so blessed to be able to have experienced our Pat. We realize that she was so much to so many people – but she was just Pat sometimes to us – and she was good with that," said Marr.
Marr also knows that those 161 former Lady Vols who played for Pat now have a job to do.
"That’s actually what I told her this weekend. We got it. It’s our job from now on to take care of each other, and I promised her we would. I was a team captain, and those are the things that the captains always take in, even in life. So we had a good moment," she said.
RIP. May we all honor and CELEBRATE the greatest coach to ever do it. Not because of her record but her IMPACT! pic.twitter.com/CadPQ0Is3V
— Diamond DeShields (@DDDeshields) June 28, 2016
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell Fargas played for Pat, coached alongside her, then against her. She's one of nearly 80 former players or assistants who went on to work in the game.
She said the players from different eras and different sports understand "we're all going to be responsible for carrying this charge."
Pat Summitt may be gone, but she left an amazing legacy behind. Her Lady Vols will carry that on, as will all the others that Pat impacted along the way.