We've learned not to count out Yow



It was hard to watch North Carolina State coach Kay Yow walk off the court 21 months ago, after Connecticut ended her Wolfpack's unforgettable 2007 season in the Sweet 16 in Fresno. And it's difficult to hear the news today that Yow is stepping away from coaching for the rest of this season as she continues to fight the breast cancer that has been her on-again, off-again opponent for the last 22 years.

Although she had already missed four games this season because of flagging energy, the 66-year-old Yow made her decision with obvious reluctance.

"Stepping away from coaching is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make," said the Hall of Famer, who has spent the last 34 years of her 38-year head coaching career at NC State. "But I have great confidence in the experienced staff I have been working with for such a long time and the character of everyone involved in the program to respond positively to my decision."

Yow will be replaced on the bench on an interim basis by her long-time top assistant, Stephanie Glance.

It's premature to speculate on whether Yow will return to the bench again, but I, for one, would never count her out. Over the last few years I've learned you can't underestimate the passion and fight in this woman.

Two years ago Yow left her team for 16 games as she underwent aggressive chemotherapy. After she returned on Jan. 25, 2007, the Wolfpack won 12 of their next 14 games and "lifted my adrenaline so much that I didn't feel anything that was happening outside the court," said Yow.

The Pack's emotional run finally stopped with a 78-71 loss to Connecticut in the Sweet 16. As she walked off the court that March night wearing a brown wig on her head and bandages on her fingernails to hide some of the effects of chemotherapy, Yow gave the Wolfpack hand sign to a standing, cheering throng that included fans of LSU, Connecticut and Florida State. There wasn't a soul in the Save Mart Center who wasn't moved by Yow's courage, but many in attendance made the sad assumption that she had probably coached her last game.

I was one of them. I was in Fresno that weekend, and I know some of what Yow endured just to make that trip. An IV drip for the duration of the cross-country flight, daily blood tests, breathlessness, peeling fingernails, numbness in her feet, and skin pulling off with Band-Aids, just to name a few horrors. Basketball allowed Yow to forget, for a few hours every day, the brutal opponent she faces off the court. But I wondered how long she could split her energy between two all-consuming agendas-coaching her team and fighting her disease.

So I was one of the many who were surprised and delighted to see Yow return to the bench last season -- with more energy, a head of silvery hair, and a new treatment regime. She had two missions: to coach her team (the very young Wolfpack team would finish 21-13 and miss the NCAA tournament) and to lend her name to a national fight against breast cancer by launching the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Along the way, she got Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt to put aside their differences long enough to join her a TV promo for the fund, which has raised over $600,000 for cancer research to date.

Some of Kay Yow's future is uncertain, but this part is not: whether or not she is able to make another comeback to the bench, she will continue to be an inspiration to her players, to legions of cancer patients, and to anyone who has been touched by her or her story.

Pittsburgh is No. 1 for first time

Pittsburgh made it to the top of The Associated Press’ college basketball poll for the first time and it wasn’t even close.

The Panthers (14-0) took advantage of losses by season-long unanimous No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Connecticut to make the jump from third to first Monday, receiving all but two of the first-place votes from the national media panel.

Pitt had been ranked second nine times since 1987-88 but had never reached No. 1 until this week.

“I think it means a lot to our fans and our city and it means a lot to our university, much more so than to me and our players,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said Monday. “But it is part of the reason why we play and work so hard so I am glad for them.”

The Panthers have a lot of familiar names in the Top 25 with them as they are one of a record nine Big East teams in the poll.

The 16-team league had a record eight schools ranked for three weeks earlier in the season, but the return of Marquette and the first appearance of West Virginia made it nine Big East teams.

“I know I said a couple of times when people mentioned that we didn’t play any ranked teams on our nonconference schedule that it’s hard to schedule any when a third and now more than a third are in our conference,” Dixon said, laughing. “I think it’s a good thing. People talk about how hard it is but we knew it was that way when we were signing up for it. You want to play against the best and we’ll have that opportunity a lot.”

The Panthers opened Big East play this week with road wins over Rutgers and Georgetown. They won’t play again until hosting St. John’s on Sunday and Dixon doesn’t think all that time with a No. 1 ranking will affect his players.

“We’ve talked about different things from the beginning of the year and how you can either use things as motivation or let them become a distraction and this is one of those situations that’s come up,” Dixon said. “We need to use this to make us better and it starts today at practice.”

Duke (12-1) jumped from fifth to second to start a run of three straight teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

North Carolina (13-1), which lost 85-78 at home to Boston College on Sunday and received the other first-place votes, was third and Wake Forest (13-0) fourth.

The Tar Heels, who had been a unanimous No. 1 from the preseason poll through the first seven polls of the regular season, won all their games by double figures until running into the Eagles (13-2), who jumped into the poll at No. 17.

“We’ve got to get some things going again, going period,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Monday.

Connecticut, which lost to Georgetown at home last Monday, dropped three places to fifth, while Oklahoma, which lost to Arkansas last week, fell from fourth to sixth. Texas was seventh followed by Michigan State, Georgetown and UCLA.

Syracuse was 11th followed by Clemson, Notre Dame, Purdue, Tennessee, Xavier and Boston College. Marquette and Villanova tied for 18th and were followed by Arizona State, Butler and Minnesota. Baylor and Louisville were tied for 23rd and West Virginia was 25th.

Boston College, which has won 10 straight games since losses at Saint Louis and Purdue, is ranked for the first time since December 2007.

Marquette (13-2) returned after a two-week absence following Big East wins over Villanova and Cincinnati.

West Virginia (11-2) was ranked for two weeks last December. The Mountaineers, whose losses were to Kentucky and Davidson, have won five in a row.

The Big East teams in the Top 25 are Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova, Louisville and West Virginia.

Gonzaga (8-4), which was ranked as high as No. 4 this season, fell out of the poll from 16th after losing its third straight. The Zags lost to Connecticut and Portland State then was beaten 66-65 by Utah last week.

Michigan (11-3) split its first two Big Ten games, losing to Wisconsin and beating Illinois, but dropped out from 23rd.

Ohio State (10-2), which lost to Minnesota after opening its Big Ten season with a win over Iowa, fell out from 24th.

There are five games between ranked teams this week and four of those are Big East games: Georgetown at Notre Dame on Monday; Connecticut at West Virginia on Tuesday; and Louisville at Villanova and West Virginia at Marquette on Saturday. North Carolina is at Wake Forest on Sunday.