The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916614
JANUARY 2018 ■ 45 WHEREARETHEYNOW? BY BRIAN RAPP S usan Yow can only laugh when her interviewer poses the innocent question, "Did you really have a choice of what you wanted to do with your life?" It's a question that the youngest member of the family that has given NC State a legendary, pioneering coach, its current director of athletics and its first female All- American basketball player, has probably heard countless times in the 40-plus years since she last fired a shot on the court, now named for her oldest sister, in Reynolds Coliseum. After all, when you're the youngest child of parents who played the game, and have two older sisters who not only played but also had historic careers as coaches and athletic administrators, it seems a similar path is almost a foregone conclusion. "Growing up, every weekend, if my dad was home, and there was a sporting event on TV, like a football or basketball game, or even baseball in the summer, that's what we watched," she explained. "My mom took a great interest in watching because she had a son [Ronnie] playing football. "It's like growing up in a family whose parents are artists — it's natural to take an interest in what they are interested in. That's why sports became a mainstay in our home." Susan's 13-year age gap between her oldest sister, Kay, actually became perhaps her greatest advantage, because she was able to benefit from the experiences of all three of her older siblings as she first began trying to shoot underhand baskets while accompanying Kay to practices at her first coaching stop, Allen Jay High School in High Point, in 1964. "I was 10 years old," Susan recalled, "and Debbie [the third Yow sibling, and NC State's current AD] was playing at Gibson- ville [now Eastern Guilford] High School. Kay actually coached against her. "On Saturday mornings, she'd take me with her to her practices at Allen Jay. I didn't know what I was doing, just trying to dribble and shoot, but I loved it. "I really hadn't done much with basket- ball before junior high, just your normal neighborhood activities. But after I played my first organized game, I knew that's what I wanted to do." As both Kay and Debbie had done before her, Susan — wearing the same number 14 as her older sisters — became a standout at Gibsonville High, at a time when showcase camps, prep all-star teams and recruiting were either in their infancy or non-existent. By the time Susan graduated from high school in 1972, Kay Yow was beginning her third year coaching at Elon College. Susan, who had already been coached by Kay for one year at Gibsonville (1969-70), joined her sister's team. Playing for, and living with, her col- lege coach may seem to be a formula for trouble, but there was never any problem, Susan said. "I was her best player, wherever she coached me, and I always wanted to be the best," she said. "I definitely understood her relationship to me as a coach — I always did what she said, no question." Elon, already established as the best AIAW Division I program in North Caro- lina, went 52-8 during Susan Yow's three years, winning the AIAW state title all three seasons and the regional champion- ship in 1974. As a double-digit scorer who also aver- aged 8.5 rebounds a game as a junior at Elon, Yow was named to the first Kodak All-America women's basketball team in 1975 as a second-team selection. When then athletic director Willis Casey offered, and Kay accepted, the job as coach for NC State's one-year-old women's bas- ketball program, Susan had no doubt that she would follow her sister to Raleigh. "I never would have wanted to stay with- out her my last year," she said. Kay's first Wolfpack team compiled a 19-7 mark, including a 76-56 win over Ap- palachian State for the school's first AIAW state title in its first year in Division I. The Pack also played in the women's NIT. In her lone season at NC State, Susan averaged 19.4 points and 11.9 boards a contest, while also leading the team in shooting percentage (.585, third all-time), and free throw percentage (.832). She was named a second-team All- American for the second consecutive year, becoming NC State's first player to receive the honor. After going back to Elon following the season to complete her degree in physical education, Yow began the career path she had already decided on. "There was never any question — I wanted to be a coach," she said. She returned to Raleigh in the fall of 1976 to spend two years as a grad assistant to Kay, helping the Pack go 50-8 during that span, including a 29-5 mark and a No. 3 national ranking in 1977-78 that are still program bests. "After the season, I interviewed for the job at Hickory High School," Susan said. However, Kay recommended that she hold out for a college opportunity. That May a job opened up at East Tennessee State, and Yow accepted the position in Johnson City, Tennessee, beginning a 38- year odyssey that took her to seven differ- ent colleges and three WNBA programs. She stayed eight years at East Tennessee State, jumping to Drake in 1986 for a sub- stantial raise in a major college program. After five years (and a stint in 1988 as Kay's assistant coach on the gold medal- winning U.S. Olympic basketball team), Yow accepted an offer to coach women's basketball at Kansas State. "I took an $8,000 cut to go, but it was the Big 8 Conference," she said. "I realized after I got there I'd taken a lesser job than I had at Drake, and I actually wanted to go back, but you just didn't do that. Then the AD who'd recruited me at Kansas State left In her only season at NC State, Yow averaged 19.4 points and 11.9 boards a game and was named a Kodak second-team All-American. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS Susan Yow Women's Basketball (1975-76) Age: 63 Living: Charlotte Occupation: Former Basketball Coach Did you know? Yow's oldest sister Kay won 680 games and four ACC Tournament titles and reached a Final Four in her 34 seasons as NC State's coach before passing away in 2009. Her older sister Debbie has been NC State's director athletics since 2010 and before that was AD at Maryland and St. Louis. Yow's No. 14 jersey is one of six that are hanging in the rafters of historic Reynold Coli- seum for women's basketball. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS