Basketball - Kay Yow S Return Motivates North Carolin

North Carolina State’s coach Kay Yow returned to the team after leaving earlier this season to fight cancer. Her return to finish her 32nd season as coach portends good for the team. With Yow’s return, the Wolfpacks are winning more games.

Since Yow’s return, the Wolfpacks have won seven of their last eight games and this includes the upset win over North Carolina the day North Carolina State renamed the Reynolds Coliseum court after Yow. The Wolfpacks are now serious contenders for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

The players attribute their success to their coach. According to forward Khadijah Whittington, Yow is still battling and that inspires the team. The fact that Yow returned even though she was fighting cancer means a lot to the team and they are giving each game a hundred percent. Whittington further added that each time the team got tired and wanted to give up, assistant coach Stephanie Glance would egg them on by pointing out coach Yow and telling the game to think about what Yow was going through and that would motivate the team to win games that were slipping away from them.

Yow is a Hall of Fame coach and she led the US women’s team in 1984 to an Olympic gold medal. She began fight breast cancer in 1987. The cancer recurred in the 2004-2005 season and Yow took a leave of absence in November 2006 to concentrate on her cancer treatment. She has undergone many procedures which more life extending than curative in nature.

In February 2007, under Yow’s guidance North Carolina State defeated Florida State 68-51 and this victory made Yow one of the six Division I women’s coaches to reach the 700 win milestone.

North Carolina State will be hosting the first and second round of the NCAA tournament at the Kay Yow Court and this is lucky for them as Yow’s present condition makes  it difficult for her to travel.