It was really neat to be there to watch Kay Yow walk onto the Reynolds Coliseum floor before the start of last night's Virginia and N.C. State game. It was the way it should be. Kay Yow was back doing what she was born to do, coach a basketball team.
The 64-year-old Yow, who’s been on a leave of absence since November to fight a recurrence of breast cancer which was first discovered in 1987, was given a standing ovation as she approached her bench before tip off, and oh did she deserve it. You could see how much it meant to her. You could see it in her eyes, read it on her smiling face.
She has been through so much the last few months, none of it fun, but Yow is a fighter—and above anything else, she’s a basketball coach who loves what she does and who loves her team. She says that when her doctor gave her a glimmer of hope that she could return to coaching this season, she had no hesitation. She was coming back and would do all she could to make it happen.
Yow, who said Monday that she was returning, admits that she’s easing her way back in, and during the game she remained relatively calm, letting associate head coach Stephanie Glance do most of the vocal work. The coach says her voice is not strong enough to do a lot of yelling, but there were flashes of the old Yow. No question about it.
“ When they toss the ball up, you just sort of move into that competitive mode,“ Yow said. “When the ball was tossed and the game started, I started feeling the old familiar feeling. I started to get into right away.”
Right before half, she was on her feet to protest a charging call, and then in the second half I saw the coach down on one knee, chatting up the referee. It all looked so familiar. It was like old times.
“It’s always a huge boost to have your chief back,” senior Ashley Key said. “Just to be able to see her out there, knowing that she may have her weak moments, but she’ll be out there strong for us…. That was enough boost in itself.”
After State’s come-from-behind 71-60 win over Virginia, which was the 697th of her Hall of Fame career, Coach Yow spoke to the crowd and thanked them and everyone for all their support. She says she is so grateful for all the support and kindness that has been shown to her by so many.
Kay Yow knows she’s not close to being 100 percent physically. She knows she’s going to have days that she’s going to really have to rely on her staff. She says she feels like an injured player who’s been out awhile and is just coming back. She’s says she’s just going to ease her way back in and see what happens.
But there’s no question her staff and team are glad to have her back and will work as hard as they can for her.
“Just fighting, you know, seeing her fight makes me want to fight,” senior Gillian Goring said. “I changed my whole attitude. The whole team changed their attitude to being a great team for her.”
Kay Yow didn’t pace the sideline, as is her usual habit. She sat on the bench instead of kneeling in front of it, but the important thing was that she was back as the Wolfpack women’s head basketball coach.
That means a lot to a lot of people.
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