Saying goodbye to NC State Coach Kay Yow

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Coaches and fans from across college basketball gathered today to remember longtime North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who died last weekend after a two-decade fight against cancer.

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma, North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell and Miami Coach Katie Meier stopped at a viewing for Yow before this afternoon’s funeral in Cary, N.C. Others paying respects included former N.C. State football Coach Chuck Amato, and N.C. State alumnus and former NFL Coach Bill Cowher. Those at the funeral included Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer.

And last night, Yow’s team (pictured above) played for the first time since her death -- an emotional time for all of them.

Not long ago on this blog, Sparks co-owner Kathy Goodman wrote about how important Kay Yow was to women’s basketball.

Yow’s life is inspirational. Despite being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, she went on to lead the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She won more than 700 games in her career and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2002.

When the cancer returned, she never stopped fighting -- a virtue she instilled in every woman who ever played for her Wolfpack.

-- Debbie Goffa