As the basketball wins piled up, Yow served as an assistant coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team and head coach of the 1988 team, both times winning gold medals. Not surprisingly over the years, other Division I schools tried prying her away from N.C. State with higher salary offers — to no avail.
“They say the grass is always greener elsewhere, but you still have to mow that grass,” quips Yow, who’s known for folksy aphorisms. Trice-Hill says Yow became a surrogate parent when her mother died unexpectedly during her freshman year in college.
“She didn’t want me wallowing in self-pity. She told me to swish my feet in it, get out and continue my life. Those words carried me a long way.”
In 2004, Trice-Hill was a Hampton University assistant coach in women’s basketball, a few miles from her native Norfolk, Va., when the opportunity to coach under Yow opened up. “It was a no-brainer. This is home.”
Yow first battled breast cancer in 1987. It went into remission but returned 17 years later. Despite treatment, the cancer progressed, and, in 2006, she took a leave of absence from the team. While still in chemotherapy, she returned in early 2007 and soon coached her 700th victory. N.C. State’s court has since been christened “Kay Yow Court.”
She still wants to win a national championship, but quickly adds, “My cup is overflowing. All the players, all the teams, I have no lack of fulfillment.”
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