Coach Kay Yow to the FIBA Hall of Fame

Coach Kay Yow has been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. FIBA is the governing body for all international basketball and is considered the highest level of basketball within a scope of the sport played competitively worldwide.

The honors don’t get any higher than this. This is the do-all, end-all of basketball and is looked upon as being equal with FIFA which is the world-wide international governing body for soccer.

Coach Kay Yow passed away earlier this year due to complications from cancer year and she was thought to be by many, one of the all-time greats, in the sport of women’s basketball at any level.

Coach Yow graduated from Gibsonville High School(now Eastern Guilford) and went on to receive her teaching degree from East Carolina University. She experienced much success as the women’s coach during the AIAW period at Elon College and then became the first full-time women’s head basketball coach at N.C. State University where she won over 700 games. Coach Yow also coached the US women’s team to the Gold in the 1988 Olympics.

She joins Coach Dean Smith from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the FIBA hall. Coach Smith was inducted by FIBA earler this year.

On Coach Yow from Wikipedia:(go there now to find out more)

Sandra Kay Yow (March 14, 1942 – January 24, 2009) was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the women’s basketball team at North Carolina State University from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also won an Olympic gold medal as coach of the 1988 U.S. women’s basketball team, despite having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987.

Education and coaching career
Yow received her Bachelor of Science degree in English from East Carolina University in 1964. After graduation she worked as English teacher, librarian and girls’ basketball coach at Allen Jay High School in High Point, North Carolina. She then earned her Master’s degree in Physical Education from the UNC-Greensboro in 1970 and then took the position of women’s athletics coordinator and women’s basketball coach at Elon College.

In 1975, Yow became NC State’s first full-time women’s basketball coach and also coached women’s volleyball and softball. She led the women’s basketball team to an ACC championship in the first season of league play in 1978.

On January 11, 2001, she reached the 600-win milestone for her career with a 71–64 win over Temple University. On February 5, 2007, she reached the 700-win milestone for her career with a 68–51 win over Florida State University. At the time of her death, she ranked as the fifth winningest active NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach. In recognition for her dedication and success, Yow was selected for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on June 5, 2002, the fifth female coach to be selected. On February 16, 2007 the basketball court at Reynolds Coliseum was renamed Kay Yow Court at Reynolds Coliseum in her honor. On July 11, 2007, Yow received the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance. She received a standing ovation.

Yow also coached the silver-medal-winning U.S. women’s basketball team in the 1981 World University Games; the 1986 gold-winning U.S. teams in the Goodwill Games and the FIBA World Championship; and the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s basketball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

info on FIBA from www.fiba.com:

FIBA: International Basketball Federation

The abbreviation ‘FIBA’ derives from the French ‘Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur’. The Word ‘Amateur’ was dropped in 1986 after the distinction between Amateurs and Professionals was eliminated. The ‘A’ in FIBA was however left. This was for reasons of tradition and also because of the ‘BA’ at the beginning of our sport, BASKETBALL!

Who we are

FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National federations of basketball throughout the world
FIBA is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
FIBA is a non-profit making organization and, in principle, does not pursue any objective of economic character for its own gains
The headquarters of FIBA are established in Geneva, Switzerland.

What we do
FIBA establishes the Official Basketball Rules, the specifications for equipment and facilities, and all internal executive regulations that must be applied to all international and Olympic competitions, for which FIBA also establishes the system of competition
FIBA controls and governs the appointment of international referees
FIBA regulates the transfer of players from one country to another
FIBA controls and governs all international competitions.