Kay Yow has seen it all. She is beginning her 33rd season as N.C. State’s women’s basketball coach and her 37th season of coaching college basketball. She has coached a gold medal Olympic team. However, she has never coached a team as young as this year’s Wolfpack.
“It is the youngest team I’ve ever coached,” Yow said. “Even when I first came to N.C. State, I had more juniors and more seniors than I have right now. I absolutely don’t ever remember a time when I had a younger team than this.”
After losing six seniors off last year’s Sweet 16 team, the Wolfpack will be looking to establish a new identity. Yow said even the coaching staff is not sure who is going to step up.
“We have so much to learn about this team,” Yow said. “We only have one senior, one junior and 11 freshmen and sophomores. We’re going to have three starters that haven’t had much playing experience at all.”
State enters this season returning just two starters — junior point guard Shayla Fields and senior center Khadijah Whittington. Whittington, last year’s leading scorer and a preseason All-ACC pick, said she and Fields will have to step up into leadership roles this season.
“It’s changed a lot,” Whittington said. “I’m a leader now. I have to know that I’m a leader, and I have to be vocal and lead by example. I was the one looking up to the older players, and now I have younger players looking up to me.”
The Pack will begin its season with an exhibition game against Premier Players tonight at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum. Redshirt freshman guard Megan Zullo, sophomore guard Nikitta Gartrell, and sophomore forward Lucy Ellison will join the two upperclassmen in tonight’s starting lineup. Zullo said with all the vacancies left by last year’s departed players, most starting spots are still up for grabs.
“Every spot is open now,” Zullo said. “Every spot is available. If you work hard and show that you want to be out there, you’ll get your chance. When you get your chance, you got to prove yourself and do something for the team.”
Despite its youth, State begins this season ranked No. 25 in the preseason coaches’ poll. Yow said she isn’t sure the Wolfpack will be able to hold on to the ranking, but it is a tribute to the respect the program has shown around the country. According to Whittington, the team should have equally high expectations this year as it had last season.
“We’re a totally different team this year,” Whittington said. “We have high expectations. We have to go into it as, ‘We’re going to be this team this year. We’re going to be better than that team last year.'”
