Deborah Ann Yow (born September 1, 1950Debbie Yow Is Stirring St. Louis University
''The Seattle Times'', June 16, 1991, retrieved June 26, 2010.) is an American college sports administrator and former college basketball coach. She was the

director of athletics An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and r ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

, and held the same position at the University of Maryland and

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

. She previously served as the head coach of the

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

teams of the University of Kentucky,

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

, and the University of Florida.

Early life

A native of Gibsonville, North Carolina, Yow attended

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

but later dropped out. She then attended Elon University, where she played basketball and studied English. In 1987, Yow earned a master's degree from Liberty University in counseling. Yow married and later divorced

Lynn Nance Lynn Sanford Nance (born September 3, 1942) is an American former college basketball coach. He also served as head coach at Iowa State, Central Missouri State, Saint Mary's, Washington, and Southwest Baptist. Early life and education Nance ...

, a collegiate men's basketball coach. In 1983, Yow married Dr. William Bowden, a university administrator, while she was coaching at Oral Roberts University.

Women's basketball coach

Yow coached women's basketball at the University of Kentucky and

, and also served as the women's basketball coach at the University of Florida where she took these three previously unranked teams into the top 20 national rankings. On January 10, 1985, she and the Gators won Yow's 150th career victory.History
(PDF), ''2007-2008 Women's Basketball Media Guide'', p. 94–95, University of Florida, 2007. After that season, Yow accepted a promotion in Gator athletics as an administrator and fundraiser. She averaged 20 wins per season over eight years as a head coach.

Athletic director

Saint Louis

After coaching, Yow also served as an associate athletic director at the

University of North Carolina-Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

hired Yow as its athletic director in August 1990. The media reported a strained relationship between her and the men's basketball coach

Rich Grawer Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated communi ...

, which Yow denied. She fired Grawer after a 5–23 season and hired Charlie Spoonhour as his replacement. Spoonhour won the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award for leading Saint Louis to the NCAA Tournament in the 1993–94 season and received a pay raise and contract extension through 2000. Yow remained at Saint Louis University for four years, until hired to the same position at the University of Maryland in August 1994.

Maryland

At Maryland, Yow became the first female athletic director at any

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

school. Under Yow, the Maryland athletics department balanced its annual budgets, which had not been done in the previous decade and the department's debt was reduced from $51 million to $5.6 million.On Campus - Deborah A. Yow - Director of Athletics
University of Maryland Terrapins Athletics official website, accessed 6 December 2008. From 1994 to 2010, the school's athletic teams captured twenty national championships. Seventeen were in women's sports: women's lacrosse (8), field hockey (4), competitive cheer (4), and

(1). Three championships were claimed by two men's teams. Maryland men's basketball secured the 2002 title and men's soccer captured the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and 2008 College Cups.National Championships
, University of Maryland, retrieved June 25, 2010. '' U.S. News & World Report'' and '' Sports Illustrated'' ranked the Maryland athletics program in the nation's top 20 during Yow's tenure. In 2008, her salary was $365,925.00 according to public records. Yow reportedly had a rocky relationship with Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams. Mike Wise
Two Sides To One Program
''The Washington Post'', p. E1, March 21, 2009. In January 2009, the basketball team struggled early in its season, which led to Williams publicly trading barbs about recruiting with associate athletic director Kathy Worthington. In February, Yow issued a statement of support for Williams. During the 2009 row, John Feinstein wrote in '' The Washington Post'', "Debbie Yow didn't hire Gary Williams. She can't take any credit for the program he built nor should she take any of the blame for its recent struggles." He added, "Does illiamsget along with Debbie Yow? No, everyone knows that..."John Feinstein
Maryland Men's Basketball
''The Washington Post'', February 4, 2009.

North Carolina State

On June 25, 2010, Yow accepted the job as athletic director at

. She was awarded a five-year contract with a $350,000 annual salary with a supplemental income of $100,000. After the 2010–11 basketball season, Sidney Lowe resigned as Wolfpack coach after failing to make the NCAA tournament in his five seasons as coach. In early April 2011, Yow hired former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried as the new coach. In his first season, Coach Gottfried led the Wolfpack back to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. On November 25, 2012, Tom O'Brien was terminated, and NC State was obligated to pay $1.2 million of non-state funds to O'Brien as his contract ran through the 2015 season. However, NC State ended up only having to pay O'Brien $200,000 after the buyout was renegotiated so he could become an assistant at Virginia. On December 1, 2012,

Dave Doeren David William Doeren (born December 3, 1971) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at North Carolina State University, a position he has held since the 2013 season. Doeren previously served as the head football ...

was announced as the new head coach of the NC State Wolfpack football team, with an estimated total annual compensation package of $1.9 million. It was the seventh change of a head coach at NC State under Yow in a little over two years. On March 17, 2017, Kevin Keatts was announced as the new head coach of the NC State Wolfpack basketball team. Yow was named the 2019 James J. Corbett Memorial Award Recipient by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the highest honor one can achieve in college athletics administration. Yow retired on May 1, 2019. Boo Corrigan took over as NC State Athletics Director on the same day.

Personal life

Yow's two sisters also have been employed in athletics. Kay Yow was head coach of the NC State women's basketball team, and Susan Yow became the first female All American at NC State in 1975-76. Susan went on to coach women's basketball at multiple schools, with her last stop at Queens University in Charlotte,NC before retiring. Her brother, Ron, signed a football scholarship at Clemson University in 1967 and played there for two years. Her cousin, Virgil Yow, served as head basketball coach at High Point University, where he allowed the first female to play on the men's team. All three of the Yow sisters, along with Virgil Yow, have been inducted into the State of North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links

NC State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yow, Debbie 1950 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from North Carolina East Carolina University alumni Elon University alumni Florida Gators women's basketball coaches Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches Liberty University alumni Maryland Terrapins athletic directors NC State Wolfpack athletic directors People from Gibsonville, North Carolina Saint Louis Billikens athletic directors Women college athletic directors in the United States