Without Kay Yow by her side, interim head coach Stephanie Glance held back tears at Wednesday’s press conference. Glance and select players met with the media Wednesday to discuss Yow’s coaching status and Glance’s plans for the team this season. The press conference, which was held after the team’s first practice following the announcement, was very somber, but exuded the same positive attitude that Yow has instilled in her staff and team over the years.
Coach Yow will be turning her position this season to former assistant coach Stephanie Glance, who has been a part of Yow’s staff for fifteen years.
“We’re sad Coach Yow had to step down, but our first concern is for her health and how she feels on a day to day basis,” Glance said. “We had a long conversation with the team. They are responding as well as they can.”
Glance said that Yow has always seen the glass as half full and will continue to do so. She does not view her situation as a downer, but rather one where she can find inspiration and inner strength.
“She’s battling cancer, she’s taking that on like an unbelievable opponent and has gotten in the ring and gone punch after punch after punch,” Glance said. “She has been such a shining star.”
Glance said it has been a privilege and honor to work with Coach Yow during her tenure at State. The friendship that these coaches share with each other is evident in their chemistry on the court and in the community.
“I’ve learned so much from her,” Glance said. “It’s always been a real blessing and opportunity to be here with someone like Coach Yow.”
Players like sophomore forward Tia Bell look to Yow for ways to stay upbeat through the good times and the bad.
“She’s shown the importance of showing your faith in God and always seeing the glass half full,” Bell said. “You have to stay positive and look forward, and she lives what she says every day.”
While Yow has an outstanding reputation as one of the greatest women’s basketball coaches in history, she is also known for her reputation off the court as well – one of selfless teaching, devotion and wisdom. Beyond all her coaching experience and accolades, her full-time position as a mentor has left the greatest impression on her coaching staff and players.
“There’s so many lesson’s she’s taught beyond basketball, and particularly one thing she’s taught us is that we have absolutely no control over what happens to us in life,” Glance said. “But that we have 100 percent control over how we respond.”
Yow is responding to this situation in the most positive manner possible. She has been in a long fight with cancer for 22 years -– longer than some of her current players have been alive. But she continues to respond to the situation in the most positive manner possible, refusing to get down. And if Yow refuses to have a negative attitude, she will not allow her staff and players to do so either.
“It’s hard to be down when the person battling cancer is so upbeat,” Glance said.
For senior guard Shayla Fields, the positive and uplifting support among the staff and the players has helped the team cope through such a tough situation, one that Fields experienced in 2007 during Yow’s 16 game absence. Yow returned during Fields’ sophomore season, but will not be returning to coach Field’s through the end of her senior year.
“It’s different because now we know she’s not coming back [this season]. And last time we didn’t know if she would come back,” Fields said. “So it’s a different situation, but I feel like we have to respond the same way — to stick together as a team, as one unit.”
Fields has admired Yow since her childhood, and the impact that Yow has made on her life will continue on, though Yow will not be on the sidelines for her final season with the Wolfpack.
“She’s been an inspiration to me,” Fields said. “She’s basically the reason I came to N.C. State, because of her legendary status and the family atmosphere, just the way she involves her players and treats you like her own.”
Fields and her teammates have had to learn to be flexible over the years after learning that Yow was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
“That wasn’t going to change, we all had it in the back of our minds, we knew that it was there,” Glance said. “It has made us very grateful for the time that Coach Yow is with us, the time that we’ve gotten to talk to her and be around her.”
Yow has always had an uncanny ability to shift gears, according to Glance. She said the team must adopt this attitude as they transition from competing in ACC basketball to worrying about their ailing coach.
“We have to be able to focus on basketball when we’re in between the lines. But when we’re not, our thoughts immediately go to Coach Yow. We’re always anxious to see her again and talk with her again.
Glance knows that Yow would not want her circumstances to hinder the progress and spirit of the team. Fortunately, Yow taught her that she must be flexible
“But one of the great things I’ve learned from her is that you have to be flexible and to focus on the task at hand. And when that task is over, you focus on the next task.
Coach Yow’s team is in good hands. Over Glance’s fifteen season’s at NC State, she has had lots of responsibilities given to her by Yow, who always wants her personnel to do as much as they possibly can within the program.
“She was preparing me for something, to be a head coach at some point,” Glance said.
Although that point has come sooner than Glance would like, she feels prepared to lead the Wolfpack to victory. While her day-to-day activities will not change as she transitions into the head coaching position, she knows it will be a different feeling during games.
“It’s about three inches over on the bench, but it’s a lot different feeling. During the game, you’re making all the decisions,” Glance said.
Fields has faith in Glance’s abilities as head coach. While there is no coach quite like Yow, Glance will be a formidable force on the sidelines with the same presence that Yow created.
“Coach Glance is a very good coach. She can get in your face, but it’s all for the good,” Fields said. “She just wants you to be a better person and a better player on the court, and just give it your all.”
As for Yow’s coaching future, her status is unknown. Cancer can be an unpredictable disease and can affect people in various ways. Glance was unsure of if or when Yow would have to step aside, and she certainly does not know what Yow will decide to do after the season ends.
“We’ve seen her be really struggling physically and then bounce back,” Glance said. “You can never count her out, and she’s just a fighter and she has a really strong faith. If she can possibly do something, she’s gonna do it and she will never stop fighting.”
But for now, Yow will be watching from the stands, cheering her Wolfpack women to victory. Glance said Yow does not want to interfere with what is going on on the court throughout the game. She wants to show confidence in her staff and their abilities to lead.
“It’s like the teacher has taught the student and the teacher is stepping away to let the student carry out what they’ve learned – I think she looks at it that way,” Glance said. “She’s not a person that hovers, she’s a person that gives you a task, then steps back and lets you do it. She trusts that we’ll do our best.”
Glance and her players know that she can take great pride in the skills and knowledge Yow has passed along both on and off the court. Yow can watch her team with pride, knowing that they are out on the court, fighting for her and living her legacy.
“She just sets an unbelievable example for all of us, and she has taught us well,” Glance said. “There’s a part of Coach Yow in all of us and there always will be.”
Yow may be missing from the sidelines for the remainder of the season, but the wisdom and life lessons she has etched into the coaches and players of the program will continue to be evident in guiding the Wolfpack through the season as the team presses on.
“Coach Yow has said so often that you can’t pity yourself, you can’t drown in self pity, you swish your feet a little and get out,” Glance said. “We feel sad, but we’ve got to swish our feet and we’ve got to get out and we’re going to go on. We’re going to represent N.C. State and represent Kay Yow the best we can.”
Coach Kay Yow speaks to the crowd after an exhibition game in Reynolds Coliseum Nov. 6.
