A legacy not to be soon forgotten

Kay Yow (left) with fellow coach Pat Summitt after Yow was given the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY for Perseverance in 2007.

Nearly 16 years after one North Carolina State basketball coach succumbed to cancer, another recently has as well.

On Saturday, N.C. State women's basketball coach Kay Yow passed away from breast cancer, a battle she had been fighting since 1987.

On March 3, 1993, former N.C. State men's basketball coach Jim "Jimmy V" Valvano gave a memorable speech at the ESPY Awards in which he encouraged those with cancer to "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." He passed away less than two months later.

Like Valvano, Yow became an inspiration not only to all the young women she coached, but to others with cancer. After her diagnosis, she began actively raising awareness and money to battle the disease.

To put it lightly, having breast cancer definitely did not make Yow give up.

In 2007, the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund was established during the annual Jimmy V Classic. The fund is in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, which was set up following Valvano's death in April 1993, and raises money for the fight against women's cancers.

Yow had a mastectomy as part of treatment after her initial diagnosis, but refused to let the disease control her and coached the United States to a gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Her influence was so strong, other teams have decided to honor her memory by wearing pink uniforms. On Sunday, rival North Carolina wore pink uniforms when they played Maryland, who wore pink warm-ups and the referees used pink whistles. Earlier in the day, players in the Duke-Georgia Tech game wore pink shoelaces.

In a 2006 interview, Yow explained her ability to continue to fight cancer, even in the toughest of circumstances.

"Almost everybody is dealing with something," she said while acknowledging there were other patients with tougher battles than what she had.

In 2004, Yow discovered a lump near where the original cancer was found. Although she had surgery and began a regimen of radiation and hormone therapy soon after, the cancer unfortunately returned.

Again, refusing to be beaten, she returned to coaching and continued to inspire others.

Yow became the fifth female coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and finished her career with 737 wins, but it pales in comparison to how her mental toughness and emotional strength impacted so many lives.

"If you start to dwell on the wrong things, it'll take you down fast," Yow said in 2007. "Every morning, I wake up and the first thing I think of is I'm thankful. I'm thankful for another day."

For more information about the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, visit http://www.wbca.org/kayyowwbcacancerfund....

Locally, the American Cancer Society is sponsoring its annual Clay County Relay For Life event May 8-9, from 6 p.m.-6 a.m., at the Clay County YMCA.

For more information about the event, to make a donation or sign up as a participant, survivor or team, visit www.relayforlife.org/claycountyin.