Women's History Wednesday Profile: Deborah Yow
Deborah Yow in her office at North Carolina State University Photo Credit: Missy McLamb/Walter Magazine
What’s in a Name?
The Yow name is synonymous with basketball. There are four members of the family in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame; Susan, Virgil, Kay and Deborah Yow. Today, Deborah Yow serves as Athletic Director at North Carolina State University, about an hour up I-40 from her hometown. We were able to catch up with Director Yow via e-mail for this article.
Before Debbie herself could dribble, the Yow family was making history for women in basketball. Her cousin, and fellow hall of famer Virgil Yow, for placing a woman on the Men’s Basketball team at High Point College (now High Point University), “In the late 40's, (Virgil) put a woman, Nancy Isenhour, on the men's team, which was unheard of, of course.”
There are a few versions on why and how Nancy Isenhour played for High Point under Coach Virgil Yow, as reported by the Winston-Salem Journal. However, what cannot be contested is the 323-197 record Coach Yow recorded over 21 seasons at High Point.
Debbie was raised by two basketball players. Yow and her siblings (Kay, Susan and Ronnie) were raised in Gibsonville, North Carolina. Her parents Hilton and Lib Yow were basketball stars of their own, so it’s no wonder they raised three legendary basketball coaches and a Division I football player. Debbie is the second oldest girl and gladly followed in the family tradition.
Sisterly Love
Debbie grew up playing with against her sisters and her parents. Upon her induction into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Yow shared that she and her sisters were very competitive. In fact, her older sister Kay, while coach of Debbie’s rival high school team, ordered her team to double-team Debbie, “I didn’t think she would double-team me. I didn’t talk to her for months every time we lost.”
In the 1974-75 season, all of the Yow Sister shared a bench at Elon College (now Elon University); Kay Yow coached both Debbie and Susan. Coach Kay was the first coach of the newly developed Women’s Basketball program at Elon, Debbie was captain of the team, and Susan it’s star. In fact, it is said that Debbie lost her starting position to her younger sister. Susan, coached by her sister Kay, went on to be an All-American for Elon and North Carolina State, “she was, by far, the best player of the three sisters,” said Debbie of her younger sister.
While there were likely a fair share of sisterly squabbles during that time, each of the sisters would soon find their niche in the world of Women’s Basketball. For Debbie, this would eventually lead her to athletic administration, marrying her coaching and teaching skills. Yow began her college coaching career in 1976 when she became the Head Coach at the University of Kentucky.
Rough Beginnings
Deborah Yow as Head Coach for Kentucky Photo Credit: Missy McLamb/Walter Magazine
In her first game as Head Coach of the University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball team, she went up against another young female coach. Yow lost that match 107-53 and quickly felt that she was over her head, “I'd never been blown off the court before and I couldn't believe what was happening,” recalled Yow in a Sports Illustrated article dated February 1977. The team that beat Yow and the Wildcats in her first game was the University of Tennessee, coached by Pat Summitt.
However, she would go on to listen to her support system, including her sister Kay Yow who said, “Surely they can do better.” Her team went on to be 19-7 that season. By the 1979-80 season, the Associated Press ranked UK Women’s Basketball 14th in the country. Yow went on to coach at Oral Roberts and the University of Florida before switching to athletic administration. Three times, at each respective school, Yow led her team to its first Top 20 finish in program history.
Yow embraced the opportunity to become the first woman fundraiser for the Gator Boosters, a group with a reputation for being the most successful fundraising organization in the country. In her first year, she led the Gator Boosters to $6.5 million raised. Her success at Florida led to positions with the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Saint Louis University before moving to the University of Maryland-College park in 1994. Her appointment made her the first female to be Athletic Director in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Leading the Terps
When Yow was named as the Athletic Director of the University of Maryland (UMD), she inherited a $51 million debt. Yow managed to balance the books and decrease the department debt without cutting programs. In an ESPN segment, Yow stated, “I think I could imagine cutting staff first, before I cut a team. I just don't want that to be part of my legacy, because it's not how I think about intercollegiate athletics.” Yow found money in other ways. For example, she cut carpet cleaning services from five days to two days, saving $100,000 in a year. Yow also sacrificed an additional home football game, deciding to allow Miami to host instead. That move allowed UMD to pocket $ 1 million.
In her first six years, Yow had already balanced all books and paid $7 million of debt in full. However, Yow was not satisfied just yet, “"We are pleased, but we are not satisfied...our vision is to be one of the top 10 programs in the nation consistently...we see no reason to settle for less."
By the end of her tenure, she decreased the debt by $45.4 million. Yow also brought 20 National Championships to maryland, 17 in women’s athletics. In sticking to her guns, while her peers were cutting programs to comply with Title IX, Yow was adding more scholarships. She hired two National Coaches of the Year (Ralph Friedgen, Football and Brenda Frese, Women’s Basketball), while leading the Terrapins to an all-time high federal graduation rate of 80%. In her final year (2009), the NCAA News named Maryland as one of the Top 10 athletics programs in the nation.
Success through ERA
In 2010, Yow returned to North Carolina as the Athletic Director of North Carolina State University. For the past 16 years, Yow has led the Wolfpack. She had a simple goal, made the NC State Athletic Department the best in the country.
As a coach and administrator, Yow has made an impact at every program and institution she has led. Things are no different at NC State. From 2010-2012, she led the Wolfpack to the greatest improvement in NCAA Director’s Cup rankings, a program that rewards institutions maintaining a success in both men’s and women’s athletics. Yow led the school from 89th to 27th in the rankings. In 2015, NC State was one of three institutions to win a football bowl game, advance to the Sweet Sixteen in men’s basketball, and earn an NCAA Baseball Regional bid. NC State athletes also earned a Federal Graduation Rate of 71 percent (the best rate in program history). NC State also registered an 81% graduation success rate (second highest in school history).
Yow uses an acronym, ERA to summarize her approach, “Establish the culture, Reinforce the culture, Act with the integrity when the culture is threatened.” her ability to focus on the task at hand, while building and protecting culture has made Yow successful.
When asked to offer advice to other women hoping to break through into athletic administration, she responded, “At work, meet and exceed the expectations of your supervisor and know that matters more than all of the networking. Leadership is not a gender issue. It is an issue of education, experience and a propensity for the work.”
Deborah Yow was no stranger to education, experience or hard work. Being a member of the Yow family, one would expect nothing less. When asked what made her successful throughout her career, Yow stated, “Quit trying to please everyone. You can't. And it will wear you down. Instead, stick closely to a select few who believe in you.”
Deborah Yow continues to be an important piece of the fabric of sports in North Carolina, and throughout the NCAA system. Yow has been inducted into the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, served on the U.S. Department of Education Commission on Opportunities in 2002-2003, and been awarded honorary degrees for professional achievement from Elon University, Liberty University and the United States Sports Academy. Despite it all, of her position at NC State, Yow simply states, “it’s good to be home.”
Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08
