Debbie Yow continues family legacy at N.C. State
Posted November 23, 2010 4:06 p.m. EST
Updated November 23, 2010 6:36 p.m. EST
In the four months since Debbie Yow took over as athletic director at North Carolina State University, she's done some redecorating.
On one wall of her office hangs her motto: “Refuse to accept the status quo.” On the other, on a background of Wolfpack red, is a favorite saying of her sister, Kay: “When life kicks you, let it kick you forward.”
“All I think about is how we move the bar, how we get where we want to go, how to make State the athletic program that it can and should be,” Yow said.
Although she is one of the newest members of the Wolfpack family – her first day on the job was July 15 – Debbie Yow’s connection to N.C. State runs deep.
Both of her sisters are integral pieces of N.C. State’s athletic history.
Susan Yow was N.C. State’s first All-American in any women's sport in the 1970s. Kay Yow, the eldest sibling, coached the women’s basketball team for 34 years before her death in 2009.
“I like the thought that all three of us will have made a contribution to the success of N.C. State,” Debbie Yow said.
“Susan and I both played for Kay, so she was my coach as well as my sister.”
Debbie Yow sees constant reminders of her late sister’s legacy on campus. She wears a pin that belonged to Kay, keeping her memory close.
Debbie Yow said her current job is the only on that could have lured her away from the success she had at the University of Maryland.
“I think I did the right thing. It's more or less a new season to my life,” she said.
As she moves forward, she keeps her family close.
