N.C. STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH KAY YOW DIES OF CANCER AT AGE 66

By Dick Patrick, USA TODAY

RALEIGH, N.C. — When Kay Yow announced earlier this month that she was taking the rest of the season off from coaching at North Carolina State, the women's basketball world knew her battle with breast cancer must be at a critical stage.

Yow, 66, died Saturday after a 21-year battle with the disease. Until the end, she was devoted to coaching and raising funds for cancer research through the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

"In the two decades she fought the disease, Kay never allowed herself to be victimized by cancer," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. "Kay never pitied herself. Instead, she tried to bring awareness to the horrible disease that was robbing her of her life. She did all that she could do to help others. That was just Kay.

"Helping to get the cancer fund off the ground put Kay on a mission. She fought for cancer funding the same way she fought the disease, positive and determined every step of the way. Kay was passionate about life and coaching."

Yow's 38-season career, 34 at NC State, included a 737-344 career mark with four Atlantic Coast Conference tourney titles, 20 NCAA bids and a Final Four appearance in 1998.

But the wins are not what colleagues are going to remember. Her legacy was her approach to life and coaching.

Scene from a 1996 coaching clinic at the Final Four, given by assistants of the U.S. national team: In a packed conference room, Yow a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer who coached the U.S. women to the 1988 Olympic title was standing and scribbling notes furiously as if she were a grad assistant.

"She was a perpetual student of the game, a perpetual student of life," said Beth Bass, the CEO of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

If Yow could never learn too much, neither could she give too much. "It was always about everyone else, never about Kay," said Summitt.

In 1984 Summitt chose Yow as her assistant on the U.S. team that won the Olympic gold medal. "Kay had great wisdom," Summitt said. "She had a special way of telling you things that you really didn't want to hear but needed to. Kay was not a 'yes' woman.

"She was an excellent communicator and had such a great rapport with our Olympic players. I learned so much from her on how to better communicate with your players. She definitely always knew the pulse of our team and had a calmness about her that was so settling to me as a young coach trying to bring home the gold while playing in front of the home team USA fans."

Yow had a way of coaching even when off the court. Bass treasures the time she has spent with Yow working on fundraising efforts because of the lessons imparted.

"She was always so gracious, effortlessly gracious, to everyone," Bass said. "She made them feel like they were the only person in the world. I was trying to hurry her someplace when she said, 'Beth, don't let the urgent get in the way of the important.'

"What's important isn't what's in your in basket. For her it was family, friends and the student athletes, spending time with them. 'Don't let the urgent get in the way of the important' has popped into my mind a 100 times since then. It's a good basis to lead your life by."

The Wolfpack's game at Wake Forest on Monday was postponed to Feb. 10. Its next game will be Thursday at home against Boston College. Plans for a memorial service were incomplete.

At Duke — one of N.C. State's closest ACC rivals — there was a moment of silence to honor Yow before the men's basketball game against Maryland on Saturday.

"Everyone who had the privilege of knowing Kay Yow has a heavy heart today," N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler said in a statement. "She faced every opponent, whether on the basketball court of in a hospital room, with dignity and grace. She will be greatly missed."

In her final months, Yow was on hormonal therapy as the cancer spread to her liver and bone. But she never flinched or complained, relying on her faith as the disease progressed. She commonly noted there were other patients with "harder battles than I'm fighting" and said it was inspiring for her to stay with her team.

"We're all faced with a lot of tough issues that we're dealing with," she said in a 2006 interview. "We know we need to just come to the court and let that be our catharsis in a way. You can't bring it on the court with you, but we can all just think of basketball as an escape for a few hours."

Over the years, Yow never lost her folksy, easygoing manner and refused to dwell on her health issues, though they colored everything she did almost as much as basketball. Ultimately, her philosophy on both were the same.

"If you start to dwell on the wrong things, it'll take you down fast," Yow said in '07. "Every morning, I wake up and the first thing I think of is I'm thankful. I'm thankful for another day."