Kay Yow

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Kay Yow bigraphy, stories - basketball coach

Kay Yow : biography

March 14, 1942 – January 24, 2009

Sandra Kay Yow (March 14, 1942 – January 24, 2009) was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack women’s basketball team from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also coached the U.S. women’s basketball team to an Olympic gold medal in 1988 despite having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. In April 2010, CollegeInsider.com created a new award called the Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award in her honor. It will be presented annually to the women’s college basketball head coach who displays great personal character on and off the court.

Personal life

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Coach Yow and two sisters are natives of Gibsonville, North Carolina. They were all three active in collegiate sports. Deborah Yow is the Athletic Director at North Carolina State University, and Susan Yow coached women’s basketball at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Kansas State University, Drake University, East Tennessee State University, Providence College, and Belmont Abbey College. Susan Yow was in her second season as head coach at Belmont Abbey College. Susan has also served as an assistant coach to the WNBA teams, the Charlotte Sting and the Cleveland Rockers. In 2006, Susan was named as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx, but resigned along with head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio on July 23, 2006.

After her 1987 breast cancer diagnosis, Yow became active in raising awareness as well as money to battle the disease. In 2007, the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund was instituted by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, of which she served on the board of directors. Her cancer recurred in November 2004 and she began radiation treatments the following month after having surgery.

Education and coaching career

Yow received her Bachelor of Science degree in English from East Carolina University in 1964, she was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. After graduation she worked as English teacher, librarian and girls’ basketball coach at Allen Jay High School in High Point, North Carolina. She then earned her Master’s degree in Physical Education from the UNC-Greensboro in 1970 and then took the position of women’s athletics coordinator and women’s basketball coach at Elon College.

In 1975, Yow became NC State’s first full-time women’s basketball coach and also coached women’s volleyball and softball. She led the women’s basketball team to an ACC championship in the first season of league play in 1978.

On January 11, 2001, she reached the 600-win milestone for her career with a 71–64 win over Temple University. – On February 5, 2007, she reached the 700-win milestone for her career with a 68–51 win over Florida State University. At the time of her death, she ranked as the fifth winningest active NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach. In recognition for her dedication and success, Yow was selected for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on June 5, 2002, the fifth female coach to be selected. On February 16, 2007 the basketball court at Reynolds Coliseum was renamed Kay Yow Court at Reynolds Coliseum in her honor. On July 11, 2007, Yow received the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance, an award named for fellow NC State basketball coach and friend Jim Valvano. She received a standing ovation.

Yow also coached the silver-medal-winning U.S. women’s basketball team in the 1981 World University Games; the 1986 gold-winning U.S. teams in the Goodwill Games and the FIBA World Championship; and the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s basketball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

USA Basketball

Yow was the assistant coach of the team representing the USA at the World University Games held in Mexico City, Mexico in August of 1979. The opening game was against Costa Rica, and the USA almost out scored them by triple digits, falling just shy at 132–34. The next three games were closer, but all margins were in double-digits. The fifth game was against the USSR who had won the event in 1973 and 1977. The Soviet team led at halftime, but the USA team out scored the USSR by three points in the second half to win 83–81, the first win by the USA over the USSR in a major competition in two decades. The next game was a rematch against Canada, them team they had beaten by 14 points a few days earlier. This time the Canadian team would take a nine point lead at halftime, but the USA team came back and won 68–60. The final game of the competition was against Cuba, which the USA won 73–60 to claim their first gold medal in a World University Games event.