Personal Data Full Name: Sandra Kay Yow Hometown: Gibsonville, N.C.
Education HS: Gibsonville HS College: East Carolina, 1964 Major: English
Coaching Experience NC State: Begins 34th season in 2008-09 Others: Elon College (four years); Allen Jay (four years) and Gibsonville (one year) High Schools Career Record: 729-337 (.684) (37 years) Record at NC State: 672-318 (.679) (33 years)
There is no right place to begin when talking about NC State’s head coach Kay Yow. Her accomplishments extend beyond the basketball world, but it is within that world that she has become so accomplished. Beginning her 38th year in the college coaching ranks in 2008-09, she is one of the most admired and respected coaches on the national and international scenes.
In her 37 years as a head coach at the college level, she has led her teams to a combined record of 729-337 and is one of only six Division I head women's basketball mentors to achieve 700 career victories. Yow has guided her squads to 20 of the 27 NCAA Tournaments, 11 trips to the Sweet 16, and a trip to the Elite Eight and Final Four in 1998. She has also collected five Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championships, four ACC Tournament titles, amassed 21, 20-win seasons and a staggering 29 winning seasons. Her career victory total is the fourth most among active coaches in NCAA Division I and in 2003-04, won her 650th game to become the first ACC women’s basketball coach to eclipse that special milestone.
In the 2005-06 season at the helm of the Wolfpack, Yow became the first women’s basketball coach in ACC history and fifth in NCAA history to coach 900 games at the same school. Also that year, Yow became the fourth Division I head women's coach to surpass 1,000 career games on the sideline. As one can see her resume is full of unbelievable statistics, but those are just scratching the surface.
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.
Five months earlier, Yow won the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY for Perseverance at the 2007 ESPY Awards.
The 2006-07 season, her 32nd with the Pack, may have been the most tumultuous to date, but also maybe the most rewarding. Four games into the season; Yow was forced to take a leave of absence because of progression in her breast cancer, which was originally diagnosed in 1987. Yow missed roughly two months (16 games) that season, but fought back to make a triumphant return to the bench in a win over long-time rival Virginia on January 26.
The club began to feed off the emotion that Yow returned with and led her troops to 10 wins in their next 11 games, which included her 700th career victory and a win over No. 2 North Carolina. That evening on Senior Night, the Reynolds Coliseum court was christened “Kay Yow Court”. Not to be outdone, two weeks later the Pack downed unbeaten and top-ranked Duke in the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack were the darlings of the women’s basketball world. With fans rooting for NC State from across the country, the club earned its 11th trip to the “Sweet 16” with a pair of victories over Robert Morris and Baylor at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
Accolades began to pour in for the courageous Yow. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley presented her with the Laurel Wreath Award, the state’s highest sports recognition, before the game with Baylor. In April, Yow was selected for a Naismith Award for her Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Basketball and during the ACC Tournament, Yow and Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, both cancer survivors, were co-recipients of the 2007 Bob Bradley Spirit & Courage Award.
Yow’s experience dates back to 1964 when she signed on to be the head coach at Allen Jay High School for four seasons followed by one year at Gibsonville High School. After compiling a 92-27 record over five years, Yow moved on to be the head coach at Elon College. Yow collected a four-year record of 57-19 and won the 1974 state title. From that moment on, Yow was destined to become one of the great basketball coaches in history.
In 1975, Yow was hired by Willis Casey to be the head coach of the women’s basketball program at NC State. She was installed as the head coach of both the softball and volleyball teams and was the coordinator of women's sports - all while developing women’s basketball in its infancy. As a female leader amidst a mostly male coaching staff, Yow took her first squad to the WNIT and completed the season with a 19-7 record. Since that first year, Yow has coached some of the nation’s most well known players of all-time, including WNBA All-Stars, Andrea Stinson and Chasity Melvin, NC State’s all-time leading scorer, Genia Beasley and current assistant coach, Trena Trice-Hill. Yow is a pioneer of the sport and continues to be today.
Yow is part of an elite group of eight Olympic coaches chosen to lead USA Basketball in the pursuit of an Olympic gold medal in women’s basketball. Yow was the head coach of the gold medal-winning Olympic team in Seoul, Korea in 1988. She also headed up gold medal winners at the 1981 World University Games, the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1986 World Championship Games.
In 1986, Yow’s teams went 5-0 in the Goodwill Games and 7-0 in the World Championships; both resulting in gold medals.
As an assistant coach, Yow was on the gold medal winning 1984 coaching staff in Los Angeles. In addition, she was an assistant on three more gold medal-winning teams, including the 1979 World University Games, the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 R. Williams Jones Cup. Yow also was part of the 1983 World Championship club that earned a silver medal.
She has the distinction of being the first coach to win a gold medal twice in Olympic competition since the first women’s basketball Olympic year in 1976. Her medal tally has resulted in three gold and one silver as a head coach and four gold medals and one silver as an assistant coach.
As a head coach of one of the premier conferences in the nation, Yow has found her way to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference. When NC State became one of the founding schools of the ACC in 1977-78, Yow was there to set the standard.
Yow’s accomplishments have never gone unnoticed. Her recognitions extend from small engagements at local businesses to speaking in front of crowds of thousands. Without coaching her first game at the college level, she became the first full-time female head women’s basketball coach in the state of North Carolina. She has been named national Coach of the Year eight times by various organizations, including the John and Nellie Wooden Association, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and the WBCA.
She is a member of numerous halls of fame, including the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame, the Elon University Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Softball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hall of Fame, the AIA Hall of Faith, the Raleigh Sports Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Yow’s extensive knowledge and appreciation for the game of basketball has resulted in a multitude of student-athlete recognitions and praises. 15 former players have gone on to either coach or play in the WNBA and nine players were named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary team, the second most of all the ACC schools. Also, three players were named to the Golden Anniversary team as the top-50 All-Around Female ACC Athletes, while also coaching 55 All-ACC and 34 All-ACC Tournament honorees.
Twice, NC State players have been named ACC Player and Rookie of the Year, and four have earned MVPs of the ACC Tournament. In addition, four players have been honored with the esteemed Kodak All-America award. Her players have also represented the United States in international play, including the Jones Cup, USA Select National Team, Olympic Sports Festival, US Junior National Teams, Olympic Trials and the Pan American Games. Academically 85 Wolfpack Women were named to the ACC Honor Roll for registering a 3.0 GPA or better for a full academic year.
Yow is one of the most admired and respected coaches on the national and international scenes. She is a leader, role model, mentor, coach, supporter, community friend and entrepreneur. As for women’s basketball history, Yow’s name will most certainly be delivered in the same breath as those words forever more. She was there for the implementation of Title IX and the first NCAA Tournament in 1982. Yow has never relented her pursuit to improve the sport of women’s basketball despite all of her achievements. The game has been good to her, but more importantly, Yow has been instrumental for the game.
Yow has averaged 20 wins a season during her 33 seasons at NC State. She has directed the Wolfpack to 19, top-three finishes in the final ACC standings. Her teams have been ranked in the top-25 poll a total of 326 weeks, the seventh most nationally and first in the ACC. She is one of only six coaches to have won 700 career games in Division I WBB history. She has the fourth most wins among active NCAA Division I coaches. She has coached more than 900 games at NC State, which is fifth in NCAA DI WBB history. She was the first ACC WBB coach to eclipse 600 wins at the same school and was the sixth among all-time NCAA DI coaches. Her teams have advanced to 20 of the 27 NCAA Tournaments, which is tied for the 10th most appearances. She was the first women's basketball coach in ACC history to reach 650 career wins. 1998 Final Four 21, 20-win seasons Sweet 16, 11 Times 1998 Elite Eight Five ACC Championships Four ACC Tournament Titles 21, Top-25 Finishes and seven Top-10 Finishes Four Kodak All-Americans, three AP All-Americans One of 30 teams with more than 650 wins in Division I 23rd all-time winningest team in NCAA history (Second highest in the ACC) 28th all-time winningest program by victories (Third highest in the ACC) 55 All-ACC honorees and 34 All-ACC Tournament players Two ACC Players of the Year Two ACC Rookies of the Year Four ACC Tournament MVP's 15 WNBA Players and Two Coaches Nine ACC 50th Anniversary players Three Golden Anniversary team members 85 ACC Honor Roll members Second most victories in ACC history Second highest winning percentage in ACC history Six players rank in the ACC's top-25 all-time records for field goals made and field goal percentage Five players rank in the ACC's top-25 all-time records for points, rebounds and blocks Three players rank in the ACC's top 25 all-time record for assists and steals Jennifer Howard is the ACC's All-time leader in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage NC State ranks in the top-10 among programs sending players to the WNBA NC State and Coach Yow, in conjunction with the Jimmy V Foundation, started the Jimmy V Women's Classic, the first of its kind to donate money to cancer research in the game of women's basketball NC State and Coach Yow have started the "Hoops for Hope" game. A basketball game centered around hope. Hope for early detection, hope for increased survival, hope for a cure for Breast Cancer. The fourth annual game will take place during the 2008-09 season 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
Courtesy: Karl DeBlaker
