Coach Summitt encouraged Chamique to go public "sooner rather than later" to quell the rumors and "allow friends to be friends."

"If it were me, I can't speak for Chamique, I would feel a sigh of relief," Pat said. "I don't have people talking and wondering."

This morning in the Charlotte Observer, Jena Janovy praises Chamique for "her courage and determination to help herself and others."