NCSU Student Media 2009
Kay Yow gets her team fired up during a time out at last year's game against St. John's. Yow was admitted to a hospital last week for closer monitoring of her condition. Yow was diagnosed with breast cancer 22 years ago. Photo by William Alligood.
Women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, the iconic matriarch of N.C. State women’s sports and a leader in the fight against cancer, died Saturday morning at WakeMed Cary Hospital. She was 66.
Yow, who was in her 38th year of coaching at the collegiate level, will be remembered not only for her work advancing the game of women’s basketball but also for her heroic struggle against breast cancer and her efforts to raise funds for research to stop the disease. In an official statement, Athletics Director Lee Fowler expressed his sorrow at the loss of coach Yow.
“Everyone who had the privilege of knowing Kay Yow has a heavy heart today,” Fowler said. “Her record and the honors she has received over the years are evidence of her abilities as a coach, but the former student-athletes who come back year after year and bring their children to visit her are a testament to the type of person she was. She was a blessing to many people because of her strong faith. She faced every opponent, whether on the basketball court or in a hospital room, with dignity and grace. She will be greatly missed.”
Her accomplishments in the realm of athletics seem almost limitless. Athletics Director Willis Casey hired her in 1975 to lead the women’s basketball program. She also served as head coach of both the softball and volleyball teams during this time and was later named the coordinator of women’s sports.
While she would eventually pass off her duties with the softball and volleyball teams, Yow went on to lead the women’s basketball team for the next 34 years. In that time, she compiled a record of 680-325, leading her team to 20 NCAA Tournaments, 11 trips to the Sweet 16, and one trip to the Final Four in 1998.
She put together a 57-19 record from 1970-74 at Elon before coming to N.C. State, and her all-time collegiate record of 737-344 makes her one of just six coaches to earn more than 700 victories. Yow, along with Tennessee coach Pat Summit and Texas coach Jody Condradt, is one of just three coaches to coach 1,000 games with the same program.
Funeral & Visitation
A visitation will be held in Cary, Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by the funeral. Yow will then be buried the next day in her hometown, Gibsonville.
Source: N.C. State Athletics
Yow hired Nora Lynn Finch, the ACC’s associate commissioner for women’s basketball, in 1977 after they had been good friends and even roommates when Finch was the athletics director and women’s basketball coach at Peace College. In an interview this summer, Finch said Yow played a critical role in the development of women’s sports in the ACC and across the nation.
“Kay Yow has been the most visible and recognized women’s coach in this area, and one of the most recognized in the entire world,” Finch said.
In addition to her career as a college coach, Yow led the 1988 U.S. team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. She led the United States to gold at the 1981 World University Games, the 1986 Goodwill games and the 1986 World Championship Games. She was also an assistant coach for the United States team that took gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angleles.
Yow has been named national Coach of the Year eight times by various publications and organizations including USA Today, Sports Illustrated and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assocation. In 2002, Yow became just the fifth female coach inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Five years later, ESPN awarded Yow the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance. In 2007, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley presented Yow with the Laurel Wreath, the state’s highest sports recognition.
After missing four consecutive games in December and January, Yow announced Jan. 6 she would not return to the sidelines for the remainder of the 2008-09 season. Interim head coach Stephanie Glance has led the women’s basketball team in her absence. In an official statement from the Athletics Department, Glance expressed her grief at the loss of her mentor.
Wear pink on Monday to remember coach Yow
A Facebook group urging students to wear pink on Monday to remember coach Yow has already gained more than 1,000 members.
Source: Facebook
“It has been an honor and a privilege to work with coach Yow for the last 15 seasons. I suddenly find myself grasping to retain everything she has ever said and ever taught me,” Glance said.
“Each of us who has had the special opportunity to learn from her and share wonderful friendships with her now has a special part of Coach Yow in us that will live on as long as we pay it forward and mirror her legacy of always giving to others,” Glance continued. “She has instilled in each of us what it means to be winners as people, and if we are winners as people then we will have our best shot at winning on the court. I know I speak for all former and current players and staff when I say with a swell of heartfelt emotion that she will truly be missed each moment of every day.”
Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. After initially beating the disease, it recurred for the first time during the 2004-05 season, forcing her to sit out two games. During the 2006-07 season, Yow again was forced to miss 16 games while battling breast cancer.
Yow’s fight with cancer has served as an inspiration to thousands of Wolfpack fans and cancer victims nationwide. In December 2007, the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund was established in partnership with the V Foundation as a charitable organization dedicated to finding the answer to women’s cancers. She also helped create “Hoops 4 Hope,” a game focused on the fight against breast cancer and a fundraising event for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Yow will be remembered as one of the most successful and revered basketball coaches of all time. Her successes on and off the court have earned her accolades and thousands of supporters, but she will live on in the memory of friends and fans alike as a larger than life symbol of friendliness, perseverance and courage.
In December 2007, the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund in partnership with The V Foundation was established as a charitable organization committed to finding an answer in the fight against women’s cancers. She was also involved in the creation of “Hoops 4 Hope,”a basketball game centered around a cure for breast cancer. The fourth annual game will take place Feb. 15 at Reynolds Coliseum.