University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Photo by: USA Basketball
Kay Yow's Legacy Goes Way Beyond the Court
2/18/2015 2:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Both UNC women's basketball coach Kamie Ethridge and assistant Deb Patterson have felt Kay Yow's impact way beyond basketball
Kay Yow was more than just a basketball coach in her life. She was compassionate, a role model, a woman of Christ and a pioneer for the women's game.
Many know the name Kay Yow because of what she did on the court and her battle with breast cancer, but it was who she was away from the cameras and bright lights of an arena that made her such an inspiration.
Play 4 Kay is not just about raising awareness for cancer, but it is to also remember what she meant to the sport of women's basketball.
For Northern Colorado women's basketball head coach Kamie Ethridge, Yow was more than just her coach for the 1986 World Championships and 1988 Olympics; she was a figure after whom she could model herself.
"She just believed in people. She was a fighter, she put you in great positions to be your best, and she gave you second chances," Ethridge said. "I love the fact that she saw the world and people so positively. She never gave up on people."
Ethridge, who was one of the top women's basketball players in the world during the mid- and late-1980s, had the opportunity to learn from and be coached by Yow.
It was not the Xs and Os from Yow that stands out most to Ethridge, but her loyalty and strong faith.
"What I appreciate so much about her is that in the 1986 World Championships, we beat Russia twice, and it was the first time in 26 years that the United States had beaten Russia," Ethridge said. "I was on the 1986 team leading up to the Olympics and the next one in line of point guards for the U.S. After the World Championships I hurt my knee in the Pan American games and only had a year to get ready for the Olympics. In '88, I wasn't as good as I had been, but she still took me on the team. It just showed so much of her loyalty."
Yow's loyalty and compassion came from her deep faith that she would share with anyone.
"She loved what she did, and you could see that passion to coach and her passion to be a friend, to serve her God, her savior," Ethridge said. "She was a great role model, and I couldn't think of a better."
That faith in people and her religion helped make her who she was. Before her death in 2009, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) created the Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award, an honor given every year to a women's basketball coach who exemplifies biblical principles over the course of his or her career.
Northern Colorado's assistant coach Deb Patterson received this award in 2012 as the head coach at Kansas State.
"There is no person in the history of women's basketball whose legacy I could be more honored and more challenged to be a part of," Patterson said. "The Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award transcends any and all achievements that have been a part of my career because it carries with it a personal heartbeat and challenge to be someone and something better as person, a believer and a coach daily."
Ethridge said Yow's effect on the game continues to be felt and will be for a very long time.
"Kay Yow's legacy goes beyond just her loyalty, coaching and faith, she was also a pioneer for the game of women's basketball," she said. "She is in that generation. She did it because she loved it. There was no money involved whatsoever. She just loved the sport and wanted to give to women and give them a chance to play.
"Then she watched it grow and become this TV market and everything that it has become today. It is the Kay Yows of the world that is the reason we have the sport how it is today."
Her influence on women's basketball has even been compared to that of UCLA's John Wooden for the men's game. Their efforts exceeded the dimensions of a basketball court, reaching well into everyday life.
"There are two people in my lifetime I have been blessed to know or share time with, whom I can only describe by saying, 'When I was with them, I had the feeling they were closer to heavenly, than anyone else I have ever been around on this earth,'" Patterson said. "One was Kay Yow, and the other was John Wooden."
Yow was named North Carolina State's first full-time women's basketball head coach in 1975, but coaching basketball wasn't her only duty. She also coached volleyball and softball.
As the head basketball coach at NC State, she became one of only six Division I women's basketball coaches to achieve 700 career victories, and she led 20 of her 27 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including 11 Sweet Sixteens and one Final Four. She also is just one of nine coaches to lead the women's national teams in the Olympics.
She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. She was a recipient of the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY award for Perseverance in 2007. Named for Yow's colleague on the men's side Jim Valvano. The award recognizes Valvano's fight against cancer and people who exhibit great strength in their own battles. Valvano died in 1993, but his legacy, too, lives on.
All of those accomplishments aside, Yow's impact off the court is what Patterson will remember the most.
"Kay's coaching legacy is a timeless representation of all the good, all the achievements and all the excellence that the game of women's basketball can bring to society and to the lives of the people who are a part of the game," Patterson said.
Many know the name Kay Yow because of what she did on the court and her battle with breast cancer, but it was who she was away from the cameras and bright lights of an arena that made her such an inspiration.
Play 4 Kay is not just about raising awareness for cancer, but it is to also remember what she meant to the sport of women's basketball.
For Northern Colorado women's basketball head coach Kamie Ethridge, Yow was more than just her coach for the 1986 World Championships and 1988 Olympics; she was a figure after whom she could model herself.
"She just believed in people. She was a fighter, she put you in great positions to be your best, and she gave you second chances," Ethridge said. "I love the fact that she saw the world and people so positively. She never gave up on people."
Ethridge, who was one of the top women's basketball players in the world during the mid- and late-1980s, had the opportunity to learn from and be coached by Yow.
It was not the Xs and Os from Yow that stands out most to Ethridge, but her loyalty and strong faith.
"What I appreciate so much about her is that in the 1986 World Championships, we beat Russia twice, and it was the first time in 26 years that the United States had beaten Russia," Ethridge said. "I was on the 1986 team leading up to the Olympics and the next one in line of point guards for the U.S. After the World Championships I hurt my knee in the Pan American games and only had a year to get ready for the Olympics. In '88, I wasn't as good as I had been, but she still took me on the team. It just showed so much of her loyalty."
Yow's loyalty and compassion came from her deep faith that she would share with anyone.
"She loved what she did, and you could see that passion to coach and her passion to be a friend, to serve her God, her savior," Ethridge said. "She was a great role model, and I couldn't think of a better."
That faith in people and her religion helped make her who she was. Before her death in 2009, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) created the Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award, an honor given every year to a women's basketball coach who exemplifies biblical principles over the course of his or her career.
Northern Colorado's assistant coach Deb Patterson received this award in 2012 as the head coach at Kansas State.
"There is no person in the history of women's basketball whose legacy I could be more honored and more challenged to be a part of," Patterson said. "The Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award transcends any and all achievements that have been a part of my career because it carries with it a personal heartbeat and challenge to be someone and something better as person, a believer and a coach daily."
Ethridge said Yow's effect on the game continues to be felt and will be for a very long time.
"Kay Yow's legacy goes beyond just her loyalty, coaching and faith, she was also a pioneer for the game of women's basketball," she said. "She is in that generation. She did it because she loved it. There was no money involved whatsoever. She just loved the sport and wanted to give to women and give them a chance to play.
"Then she watched it grow and become this TV market and everything that it has become today. It is the Kay Yows of the world that is the reason we have the sport how it is today."
Her influence on women's basketball has even been compared to that of UCLA's John Wooden for the men's game. Their efforts exceeded the dimensions of a basketball court, reaching well into everyday life.
"There are two people in my lifetime I have been blessed to know or share time with, whom I can only describe by saying, 'When I was with them, I had the feeling they were closer to heavenly, than anyone else I have ever been around on this earth,'" Patterson said. "One was Kay Yow, and the other was John Wooden."
Yow was named North Carolina State's first full-time women's basketball head coach in 1975, but coaching basketball wasn't her only duty. She also coached volleyball and softball.
As the head basketball coach at NC State, she became one of only six Division I women's basketball coaches to achieve 700 career victories, and she led 20 of her 27 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including 11 Sweet Sixteens and one Final Four. She also is just one of nine coaches to lead the women's national teams in the Olympics.
She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. She was a recipient of the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY award for Perseverance in 2007. Named for Yow's colleague on the men's side Jim Valvano. The award recognizes Valvano's fight against cancer and people who exhibit great strength in their own battles. Valvano died in 1993, but his legacy, too, lives on.
All of those accomplishments aside, Yow's impact off the court is what Patterson will remember the most.
"Kay's coaching legacy is a timeless representation of all the good, all the achievements and all the excellence that the game of women's basketball can bring to society and to the lives of the people who are a part of the game," Patterson said.
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