North Carolina State University Athletics
Quotes & Reaction: From Kay Yow
9/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
"There are so many things that I can say. I don't know where to begin. The first speech I wrote to follow my induction was 15 minutes long. That was out of the question. From that point I've been trying to narrow things down. There's so much I'd like to say, but mainly I want to say that I'm going into the Hall of Fame to pay a tribute to so many other people who have made it possible for me to be standing there. It's a tribute to them: my former staff, current staff, players, administrators, fans and friends. All of these people have made it possible for me to receive this award. When I accept it, it will be a tribute to them. If there is any possible way to share it, I would like to. I have to have so much help and to have so many special people in all of those positions, enables me to be a part of something great. I will humbly accept that award. I am very grateful for it and am very honored to have been recognized in this way."
"I hope over the next few days I will be able to enjoy this great event and take it all in for the moment. When it's all over and I get back here on Monday morning, I'll want to be able to get to work extra hard and prepare for the best possible season we can have. "
"If there is any coach I would model my career after, it is Coach [John] Wooden. He's the leading scorer on my team, I'm coming off of the bench."
"We had an all-staff meeting at NC State at the beginning of the year. At the very end, our athletic director said he wanted to make a special presentation. He started talking - and it was about me. He just wanted to recognize and honor me for being selected into the Hall of Fame. He asked me to come down and say a few words. I came down, got in front, and I could say nothing. My emotions, I was overwhelmed and I couldn't speak. After that, I got to thinking, 'if that happens in the all-staff meeting, what's going to happen at the Hall of Fame induction?' I've been mentally practicing, and they say that's better than no practice. I've been trying to get a mindset, but I feel like emotion is going to flood me, I just hope I can say strongly what I want to say at that time."
"I love my classmates. Actually, I have a connection with all of them. Even starting with Drazen Petrovic, the great Yugoslavian player and New Jersey Nets player. While he was playing on those Yugoslavian teams, I was coaching the U.S. teams. I knew when I saw him then that he would make his mark. He certainly did. I met his mom in Los Angeles, she'll be accepting it for him. Then, Coach Lute Olson. From afar I have admired Coach Olson for the way he coached his teams, and for who he was as a person. He too has an admiration for Coach [John] Wooden, so we share that. Coach Larry Brown, if you'll remember, he goes back to the ABA. The ABA Carolina Cougars - I met him back in those days, and he's coached some great U.S.A. teams. I was able to watch his teams practice. Magic Johnson - wow! I had a chance to eat with him in a luncheon in Los Angeles when we were out there. Magic has touched my life with the passion he plays the game and the fun he showed that you could have at the top level. His expertise, passion and fun for the game is what basketball is all about. He has done a lot for the game and has since then touched a lot of people. Harlem Globetrotters - first team in over 40 years to be inducted. I can't even count on my hands the number of times I've been to see them since I was a little girl. If they were in the area, I would go today. I love my class."
Sept. 11, 2002
"This is awesome. This is more than awesome. It's more than I ever expected"
"I am just trying to take all of this in. It's going to take a while for it to sink in."
"Last year, people sorta led me to believe that I was be elected and I wasn't. This year I just had no idea, and I didn't want to get my hopes up."
"For me, it's very humbling. Three coaches that I have known all my life - Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt and Billie Moore - are all in the Basketball Hall of Fame. I have great respect and admiration for them. They were the forerunners of women's basketball. My goodness ... to join them in the Hall of Fame is humbling."
(Reacting to being an active coach elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame):
"At North Carolina State they started an Endowment Fund in my name and I didn't want one while I was still active. It's easier to reflect about these types of honors when you're done coaching. To be elected while I am still coaching is special, but I can't get carried away with it. I have to keep things in perspective. I hope I have a lot of years left coaching and this honor is going to motivate me to work even harder. I have a lot to live up to!"
"What makes the honor so special is that there is no Hall of Fame that is more encompassing for the sport of basketball than the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, where the game was born."
"The person who has been my role model is John Wooden. Everything I have tried to emulate comes from him. He's everything I want to be and he has never disappointed me. His philosophy is most closely affiliated with mine."
