Basketball season is over for Kay Yow

Fight with cancer prompts 'one of the hardest decisions'

Kay Yow, the only full-time women's basketball coach N.C. State has known, made one of the toughest decisions of her 38-year professional career Tuesday, taking a leave of absence for the rest of the season.

Yow, who has long battled breast cancer, said she does not have the energy to coach at the standard she deems necessary. She will revisit the decision at the end of the season.

In a university statement, Yow, 66, said Tuesday: "Stepping away from coaching is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make, but I have great confidence in the experienced staff I have been working with for such a long time and the character of everyone involved in the program to respond positively to my decision."

Yow's decision came after she missed her fourth game this season on Sunday and 15 days after she missed her first game Dec. 22. At the time, with her team at the end of a five-day road trip, she said she wasn't well enough to coach. Later, she said low energy was preventing her from returning to the bench and she needed to rest at her Cary home.

Associate head coach Stephanie Glance will coach in Yow's absence, a role she filled during the 2006-07 season when Yow took a 16-game leave of absence to address her breast cancer.

Entering this season, Yow, who has 737 victories -- sixth most in NCAA women's basketball history -- suffered a setback as a change in medication put her in the hospital. She bounced back and, despite a slowness in her stride, was leading a young, injury-depleted team that had to find its way with one senior.

She dealt with her team the only way she knows: hands on, to the point, teaching.

Last month, wearing black sweatpants and sweatshirt, Yow shouted instructions.

"Hands, hands," Yow instructed, spreading her arms wide as though she were defending.

Yow then stood, arms folded, at the baseline, looking for weaknesses. She took a step closer, then another, almost entering into the action and was nearly hit by a player.

She laughed.

A characteristic move

Yow has often pushed through treatments, overcoming chemotherapy's side effects to stand with her team. Last season, she did not miss a game.

It came as no surprise to those who know Yow that she would pick the eve of the opening of the ACC schedule to step aside so she would not become a distraction for her team.

"The timing of it is vintage Kay," said Nora Lynn Finch, the ACC associate commissioner for women's basketball operations and former N.C. State administrator.

State, which has eight wins and seven losses, plays its first ACC game on Sunday at No. 2-ranked North Carolina.

"I know Kay's doing what's best for her team," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "That's her top priority."

Yow, who is in her 34th season as coach of the Pack, has coached with metastatic breast cancer since late 2004.

N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler said in a statement that Yow had his full support: "Our number one concern right now is the health and well-being of Coach Yow."

Glance said in an interview last week that the staff and players wanted Yow to rest and recover so that she felt better for herself, not so she could return to coach.

She said Yow, who has listened to games on the radio when she was absent, was in high spirits.

"Things are serious," Glance said. "She's very realistic about things, but she is the ultimate optimist. That's the way she approaches life."

Yow's long-time oncologist, Dr. Mark Graham, said Saturday that the Hall of Fame coach had not experienced any "radical" changes. He said that cold temperatures in New York during the team's five-game road trip could have "magnified" normal symptoms that are usually tolerable.

Graham said in a statement on Tuesday that his best advice for Yow was "to focus on her disease and its treatment, which she will need to do for the foreseeable future."

In January 2007, Yow returned to the bench after missing 16 games, inspiring her team's dramatic run to the NCAA Tournament round of 16. Weary, flanked by her doctor and a nurse, she found the strength to travel with her team to Fresno, Calif.

Show of strength

Tuesday's announcement came in contrast to what State fans and players had seen this season. And it was a reminder of something they do not wish to think about.

"It's always in the back of your head, 'Is this it,' " former N.C. State player Khadijah Whittington said. "But now I just pray for her. I know she will pull through. She's a strong lady."

In her statement, Yow gave a glimpse of that strength.

"Even though I don't feel well enough to coach, I'm hopeful to feel well enough to attend some ACC games and show my support for the team as well as N.C. State University," she said. "I appreciate the thoughts and prayers of so may people and I'm grateful for the outpouring of support."