VICTORY OF VICTORIES

This is one of the most incredible “sports” stories I have ever heard or seen.

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
Posted: Friday, Jan. 30, 2009

CARY, N.C. So many people wanted to talk about Kay Yow in the days since her death, to tell stories about her coaching success and the courage she showed in her long fight against cancer.

Yet when the time came for her funeral, which she designed with care, North Carolina State's Hall of Fame coach decided not to ask a former player or a fellow coach to speak. Instead, she had a message for them.

"And now I say farewell," Yow said in a video played Friday to mourners gathered at a suburban Raleigh church. "And it's been a wonderful journey, especially since the time I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior."

In the 20-minute tape, Yow thanked the supporters who guided her through her fight against breast cancer and recounted with passion her deep Christian faith.



"It has changed my life," Yow said. "It has changed the life of every person who has accepted him."

Yow's message highlighted a moving 90-minute service that drew more than 1,400 people, many of whom arrived early for a public viewing. Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, one of dozens of college coaches to attend, called Yow's taped message "amazing."

"Obviously I don't think there was a person in that room that wasn't touched and probably affected by her words," Summitt said. "I have never known of a service like this. And it would be just like Kay to be the absolute first."

Yow noted "it's actually sort of eerie" to make the video, but said she first felt compelled to tape a message after doctors diagnosed a recurrence of breast cancer in 2004.

"I don't want you to fret over the fact that I'm not here or question why I'm not here," Yow said. "Because God knows what he's doing. He doesn't make mistakes. ... I have now a place in heaven with him."

Yow won more than 700 games in her career and went on to lead the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team to the gold medal the year after she was first diagnosed with cancer in 1987.

For many, Yow was best known for her unwavering resolve while fighting the disease, which had lingered in the years since its recurrence. She raised awareness and money for research while staying with her team through the debilitating effects of the disease and chemotherapy during an emotional late-season run two seasons ago.

She took a four-game leave in December due to what was described as extremely low energy, then announced shortly after the new year that she would not return this season. She soon entered a hospital for treatment and spent about a week there before she died last weekend. She was 66.

Yow spent 38 seasons as a coach, 34 with N.C. State. She won four ACC tournament championships, earned 20 NCAA tournament bids and reached the Final Four in 1998.

She also served on the board of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which was founded by ESPN and her friend and colleague, former N.C. State men's coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993.

(See a moving and enthusiastic speech by Jim Valvano at the end of a post about my beloved cancer victor)