Yow’s legacy is the way she fought cancer — raising funds for research through the Kay Yow/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Cancer Fund and encouraging other sufferers — and her approach to coaching and life.

“Kay showed us how to handle one of the most difficult things, cancer, in the most dignified and courageous manner,” said Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer, a breast cancer survivor. “She taught us what it is to have real passion for the sport.”

When Pat Summitt of Tennessee was named to coach the 1984 Olympic team, she chose Yow as an assistant. “Kay had great wisdom,” Summitt said. “She had a special way of telling you things that you didn’t want to hear but needed to. I learned so much from her on how to better communicate.”

Beth Bass, CEO of the WBCA, said it has been like a graduate education spending time with Yow while working on cancer research fundraising: “She was always so gracious, effortlessly gracious, to everyone. She made them feel like they were the only person in the world. I was trying to hurry her someplace when she said, ‘Beth, don’t let the urgent get in the way of the important.’

“What’s important isn’t what’s in your in basket. For her it was family, friends and the student-athletes, spending time with them. ‘Don’t let the urgent get in the way of the important’ has popped into my mind a 100 times since then. It’s a good basis to lead your life by.”