N.C. State's Yow continues to inspire in her fight with cancer

11/1/2007 1:30 PM

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -Kay Yow had just pulled in to pick up her dry cleaning and barely had a foot out of the car when she noticed a woman approaching with a smile.

``I thought that was you,'' the woman said. ``I just wanted to tell you I'm praying for you.''

The encounter was brief, yet it lingered with North Carolina State's Hall of Fame women's basketball coach - just like all the letters, cards and e-mails she has received from people moved by her fight with cancer.

As she returns for her 33rd season with the Wolfpack while facing the progression of a cancer first diagnosed two decades ago, Yow feels compelled to keep fighting to set an example for her players and other cancer patients in desperate need of hope. She's cherishing every small blessing, from being able to lead a basic practice drill to having people she meets tell her how she has inspired them.

``When they say that, it really gives me a lift because it's at that time I know for sure that I'm not going through it for nothing,'' Yow said. ``That means a lot to me. I have to go through it. I accept that, and I'm not panicked about it because the Lord is in control. But it just would be so saddening if I had to go through it and I couldn't help people.

``But then I see I'm helping others in a greater way than I ever have,'' she said, tears welling in her eyes. ``That's the amazing thing, you know?''

Amazing would be a good word to describe Yow, a woman of unshakable faith and determination who refuses to dwell on an uncertain future even as her 65-year-old body betrays her. Her resume long ago established her as one of the sport's most successful coaches: 708 victories in 36 seasons; coaching the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1988; and earning four Atlantic Coast Conference championships, 20 NCAA tournament bids and a trip to the 1998 Final Four at N.C. State.

She sounds determined to keep adding to that list even as she faces a battle that began when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987.

``I think Kay being back just shows how much she loves basketball,'' said North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell, an assistant to Yow on the '88 Olympic team. ``And not just basketball, but the environment, the people involved with it. That's her life. That's who Kay is.

``I think whatever you're here for, your purpose in life, you've got to keep doing it as long as you can. Without a doubt, Kay knows her purpose and she's going to do it as long as she can.''

Last November, doctors said the disease that recurred during the 2004-05 season was progressing, a diagnosis that forced Yow to miss 16 games to focus on treatment. Yet she returned and led her team to an emotional late-season run to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 despite undergoing heavy rounds of chemotherapy.

After the season, she stopped those treatments for about five months while continuing hormonal alternatives. She resumed chemotherapy in September, though the first drug led to severe pain in her feet that left her barely able to walk. Doctors have since changed her treatments to one session every three weeks.

Like everything, it's subject to change.

``Nobody here dwells on wondering what's going to happen or 'Will we get through this month?''' said associate head coach Stephanie Glance, who led the Wolfpack through Yow's absence last year and during a two-game leave in 2004-05. ``We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We're thankful she's here today. That's the way we approach it.''

There is one obvious change with Yow. After wearing a wig last season, the hair she used to color dark has grown out silver - partly because she doesn't feel like spending time on it then possibly lose it due to chemotherapy. Beyond that, she seems to be the same enthusiastic coach who believes motivating players remains her best skill.

``You wouldn't think that someone who has battled (cancer) for so long would be able to come back with just as much intensity as she had before she left,'' junior guard Shayla Fields said. ``That's an inspiration for us because she's fighting every day.''

Her players have already shown they can follow Yow's lead. After her return, the Wolfpack won 12 of 14 games before losing to top-seeded Connecticut in the NCAA's Fresno Regional. Along the way, N.C. State beat second-ranked North Carolina on the night the Wolfpack dedicated ``Kay Yow Court'' in Reynolds Coliseum. Then N.C. State beat top-ranked and undefeated Duke in the ACC tournament semifinals.

At just about every game in that run, throngs of Wolfpack fans wore pink - the color for breast-cancer awareness - while opposing fans often greeted Yow with respectful applause.

After the season, she received the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance named after former Wolfpack men's basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993. The team even got championship-style rings to commemorate its run, complete with a pink ribbon etched on top of a basketball.

Yet Yow knows to be careful in how hard she pushes herself. She was often so weak last season that Glance had to help her rise from the bench during games. And during the three-games-in-three-days ACC tournament, Yow grew so hoarse that she could barely talk during the championship loss to the Tar Heels.

But these days, she sounds more scared about her 2007-08 team's lack of experience - N.C. State has two returning starters and two upperclassmen - than anything that might happen to her.

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

AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Chapel Hill contributed to this report.