Kay Yow has a lot on her plate.
With camps taking place on campus, her freshmen class starting school, letters to respond to, photos to autograph and the beginning of her recruiting trips later this week, Yow is keeping busy.
Not to mention a trip to California next week to meet with her old friend, coaching legend John Wooden.
All this by a woman who just two months ago was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for her latest occurrence of cancer.
“I have many things to keep me busy – but we all do,” Yow said.
After finishing the chemo treatments, Yow switched to taking hormonal drugs once every four weeks and is now doing it every five weeks. Along with this, each month she takes a tumor cell count test to make sure no cancer cells have returned after chemo. As long as the number stays low, she will stick with the hormonal drugs.
“It’s nothing like the hardcore chemo treatment,” Yow said. “Chemo really zaps your energy level, and there are so many tough side issues. This is nothing compared to that.”
With her hair, along with her finger nails, growing back, Yow has the look of someone on the mend.
“Each week I get more energy and I’m physically stronger,” Yow said.
Associate head coach Stephanie Glance said she is glad to have Yow back in the office and making appearances – as there is no replacement for the head coachÃs personality.
“She’s close to herself before chemo,”Glance said. “She’s such a high-energy person, and under chemo, every shot of energy was so forced. Now, she’s much more natural.”
And though having her at meetings and recruiting visits is great for the Wolfpack coaching staff now, they know they still have to take the situation week by week.
“At this point you can’t have expectations – we can’t as a coaching staff. We learned that last year,” Glance said. “We learned we have to take it day to day. We are hopeful, but to attach expectations would be unreasonable.”
Yow has had time to get away from her hectic schedule at times, as she has taken trips to Orlando and New York City in the past two months, as well as multiple trips to the beach. Noticeably missing from these trips is the nurse that had accompanied her throughout the end of the basketball season.
“Right after I went off the chemo I told myself IÃm not going to wait around. I’m going to be active,” Yow said.
Although the returning women’s basketball team will feature a young cast, led by 11 sophomores and freshmen, Yow is hopeful about the year to come.
“We clearly understand that most of the teams we’re facing, particularly in the ACC, will be more experienced,” she said. “But we have some really good, young talent, and we’ll see if they can reach the standards set for them by last year’s team.”
With many of her women getting more playing time or even facing their first NCAA action, Yow noted that they must quickly become a team.
“Being as young as they are, playing smart will be as important as ever,” Yow said.
And with the year quickly approaching – once the cross-country tours and basketball camps have concluded – Yow hopes to be back on the hardwood in Reynolds, just the way she likes it.
“Energy-wise, I feel like can go and do anything,” Yow said. “But I know I need to ease into it and not forget to rest.”
