The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MARCH/APRIL 2025 ■ 27 could, looking to make a positive im- pression on the Wolfpack's staff. "I always tried to make myself good enough that she would pick me," An- tonelli said. It took longer than she had hoped for that coveted offer to arrive. Dur- ing the early stages of her recruitment, the Wolfpack staff bluntly told her they were pursuing someone else to join the team for the 1982 season. It wasn't until Antonelli's senior sea- son that Yow finally called. The player that NC State had been recruiting went elsewhere, opening up a spot on the ros- ter. It was a no-brainer, right? Not quite. Antonelli held an offer from North Carolina and had a "bruised ego" after being passed over initially by the pro- gram she dreamed of playing for. It took some convincing from Yow to change her mind. "Debbie, haven't you come to every one of my camps and clinics? Didn't you dream about playing at NC State?" Yow asked her during their phone call. "Well, this is your dream. I'm giving it to you. Here's your opportunity." Antonelli eventually took her up on that offer and went on to become a three-year starter for Yow, helping the Wolfpack make four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances dur- ing her time in Raleigh. Antonelli was on NC State's historic 1984-85 team that claimed the ACC regular-season and tournament championships, and she also played in the Sweet 16 twice in her collegiate career. While Antonelli built a decorated ré- sumé as a player, she knew that if she wanted to stay in basketball, she would need to create a career path for herself. There weren't many women in sports broadcasting at the time, and only the national championship game was tele- vised. Shortly after she earned a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University, Antonelli went to work in making her own pathway. She was the director of marketing for Kentucky, where she created and broadcast the first televised women's games in Wild- cats history. Later, she did much the same at Ohio State, helping get the Buckeyes' games on local television, while also serving as the team's radio analyst for eight sea- sons. Fast forward to the present day, 37 years after Antonelli kicked off her broadcasting career, and women's bas- ketball is viewed in an entirely different light. The women's championship game outdrew its men's counterpart this past March, with 18.9 million watching South Carolina beat Iowa, compared to the 14.8 million that tuned in for Con- necticut and Purdue on the men's side. For Antonelli, a stalwart on the women's basketball broadcasting cir- cuit with ESPN and as an analyst for the WNBA's Indiana Fever, the dras- tic change in viewership from her time playing at NC State to now is one she couldn't have imagined. "It's pure joy. It's an incredible ela- tion," Antonelli said. "You can't wipe the smile off your face when you see the arenas are full. We've always had a good product, but we never positioned the product properly for a lot of different reasons. "But now people care. They see there are investment opportunities in wom- en's sports. That's good for everybody." While Antonelli has paved the way for herself and the many women in sports broadcasting that followed, she wasn't sure how her career would have turned out if she hadn't accepted Yow's phone call during the latter stages of her re- cruitment. "I'm grateful for it. I'm glad she came back to me," Antonelli said. "I don't know where I would be if I hadn't had the opportunity to play for Kay Yow." A Meaningful Honor Back in August, NC State athlet- ics director Boo Corrigan asked An- tonelli to meet him in his office at the Weisiger-Brown Athletics Building. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about, though she came ready with her own topics she planned to discuss in the meeting. As they began talking, he mentioned that he wanted to show her a new trophy case inside Reynolds Coliseum. Once they arrived at the gym, the two walked across the court to a hallway, where 40 of Antonelli's friends and family were waiting for her. That's when he broke the news to her: She was joining the Ring of Honor. Antonelli, who is a two-time Emmy Award winner and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022, couldn't believe it. She didn't go into broadcasting to earn awards, but they have followed along the way. "All the awards that I've received over the last couple of years are not anything I ever thought about," she said. "I'm doing my job — my job that I absolutely love. I've been so fortunate for 37 years to be on air." Prior to her enshrinement, Antonelli saluted all the people who helped her live her dream of having a career in bas- ketball. She described the occasion as a "celebration of every person in my jour- ney and in my path who has been a great teammate and helped make me better." Being enshrined in the Ring of Honor has brought Antonelli's basketball career full circle. Her name will appear in Reyn- olds Coliseum for the rest of time, and it will be near that of Yow, the coach who helped her blossom as a basketball player and touched the lives of so many others. "When her name got on the court, I thought that was going to be the greatest thing I've ever experienced at NC State," Antonelli said of Yow. "Now, when I go in the arena, I'm going to see her name, and when I look up, I'm going to see mine. It's not something I ever, ever expected. I'm grateful for it." ■ " When Kay Yow's name got on the court, I thought that was going to be the greatest thing I've ever experienced at NC State. Now, when I go in the arena, I'm going to see her name, and when I look up, I'm going to see mine. It's not some- thing I ever, ever expected." Antonelli