Expect Yow to keep leading and fighting

Kay Yow is out of coaching on the sideline for a while, but she's not through motivating.

The battling spirit that the N.C. State women's basketball coach has instilled in cancer patients far and near will continue to serve as a rallying point for this team and throngs of folks who never played in a game or even tried out for a team.

Long-term, that will be Yow's legacy. But short-term, it will be her game plan, and she's not one to dodge her own coaching advice, which always has been a message of hope and determination.

That's not just my opinion.

It's also shared by her sister, Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow, who a couple of years back summed up Kay Yow's essence in a manner that only a family member can fully appreciate.

"Kay," Debbie said, "is the most committed individual you'll ever run across. There's never been one ounce of quit in her, and never will be. She's never seen a hurdle that she's not completely convinced she won't clear."

When State announced Tuesday that the 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach probably would not return to the court for the rest of this season, almost everyone imagined the worst possible final scenario.

Not me.

I see Coach Yow fighting on.

I see her in that red jacket with the pink breast-cancer ribbon on her lapel.

I see her yelling at a referee and standing chin-to-chin with UNC's Sylvia Hatchell at courtside.

I see her looking up in the stands and doing that little wolf signal to the fan base she built from zero.

I see her still yelling at some lax player to get back much quicker on defense.

But more than anything else, I see her image of the future -- a time when little girls in North Carolina might as easily ask Santa Claus for a basketball as a baby doll.

A few years back, I asked Yow what she wanted to do with her life. The answer was classic:

"Everything I possibly can to help other people."

Whether she returns or not, we all should be so fortunate.