Many wore orange for Pat Summitt

Knoxvillians dress in orange to show support for Pat Summitt

Thousands of people around Tennessee and the nation responded to the Facebook-generated campaign for people to wear orange on Friday in honor of Lady Vols Coach Pat Summitt, recently diagnosed with early onset of the Alzheimer's type dementia.

Summitt thanked her fans in a video posted on the Lady Vols website, and promised them: "I'm going to beat this."

There were many splashes of orange downtown and on Market Square. "I just wish there were more that the fans could do," said Dawn Coppock, an adoption attorney who was sporting a Tennessee T-shirt.

The menu sign outside the Latitude 35 restaurant was decked out in orange balloons. Manager Jebbie Smith wore an orange shirt. Employees normally wear black.

"Pat is such a wonderful person, a great coach and everybody loves her," said Smith, who as a child attended one of Summitt's summer basketball camps. "We all hope she gets well."

At Latitude 35, TVA employee John Hoyle wore an orange shirt as he had a friendly lunch with his ex-wife, Kelly Hoyle. The couple's divorce was final today.

"Pat is so much a part of the community, this was the least I could do," John Hoyle said. He predicted that Summitt will find a new way to be a leader "in this new phase of her life."

Kelly Hoyle agreed. "Now she is going to become a (very recognizable) face for Alzheimer's," thus bringing more attention to the disease for which there is no cure, she said.

Houston Sanders, a trainee in 21st Century's service department, opted for a simple orange tie.

"She is so much a part of life here in Knoxville," said Sanders, who enjoys watching Lady Vol games. He said he was stunned when he heard of the diagnosis.

"I don't think that it shows yet, at least not to the average fan," he said.

"I think this is a great idea, it lets her know that people care and makes people more aware of Alzheimer's," said Marie Parrington, as she watched granddaughters Camille and Maggie Wilson play in the water on the mall. All three were in various degrees of orange.

"This is something the 3 girls decided to do," said Parrington, who is married to UT diving coach David Parrington.

Former Lady Vol standout Candace Parker, now playing for the L.A. Sparks, said she would wear orange shoes at Friday night's WNBA game with Tulsa. And she tweeted that she would donate $10 for each of her rebounds, steals and blocks to a support group for Alzheimer's victims.

The orange odyssey also extended to Washington, D.C., and beyond. Dr. Becky Clark, a 1970s-era Lady Vol point guard who is today a sports psychologist and anti-child abuse crusader, said she was clad in all orange as she traveled from D.C. to her home in New York City, and told many people who looked at her quizzically what it was all about.

She added: "Even my friends who are UConn fans, and there are a lot of those types up here, have expressed support and admiration for Pat."