Deborah A. Yow:

Future Hall of Famer

Photo: Maryland Women's Hall of Fame

To look at the Yow sisters today is to see one of the most storied families in the history of women’s athletics. The youngest, Susan, has been a professional and collegiate Division I basketball coach for nearly 30 years. The oldest, Kay, is a living legend in her 33rd year as head women’s basketball coach at North Carolina State, having coached both of her sisters through their collegiate careers. In women’s basketball, the Yow name is synonymous with faith, hard work, and excellence. But there is one more Yow sister—the middle one, Debbie. The one who dropped out of college to “find herself” and experimented with recreational drugs. The one who is “wired for 220 volts in a 110 volt world.”1 The one who found her faith reborn. The one who is in her 14th year as the athletic director at the University of Maryland, making her one of only a handful of women running collegiate athletic departments.

Throughout her life, Debbie Yow has always been full of surprises. When her family thought she was interested in being a majorette, Debbie instead announced she would be trying out for basketball, following in the footsteps of her mother and older sister. After high school, Yow attended East Carolina as a freshman before briefly getting caught up in the turbulence of the 1960s and striking out on her own. Having spent a year working menial fast food jobs, Yow returned to the world of academia, graduating with honors from Elon College, where she played basketball for her sister Kay.2 From that point forward, Debbie Yow was unstoppable. From fast food to fast breaks, Yow went on to coach women’s basketball at the University of Kentucky, Oral Roberts University, and the University of Florida, amassing an impressive 160-69 winloss record. Her success propelled her into positions in athletic administration, serving as an athletics fundraiser at Florida before moving on to the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and finally accepting the role of athletic director at St. Louis University. When the University of Maryland began the search for a new director of athletics in 1994, Yow’s background and accomplishments sparked interest. On August 15, 1994, Deborah A. Yow was hired to take the helm of the Terrapin athletic department, making her the first female athletic director in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and only the fourth among all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A schools.3

Mothers always seem to know their children best. Yow’s mother, Lib, herself an excellent basketball player and star at Gibsonville High School in North Carolina, was no exception. “Debbie,” she once said, “really loves a challenge.”4 Yow’s strong willed, adventuresome spirit was never more evident than the day she accepted the position of athletic director at Maryland. Although many people focused on the challenges Yow faced as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Yow instead focused on the many challenges of leading Terrapin athletics. At the time of Yow’s hiring, the department had been running at a budget deficit for over 10 years and was quickly accumulating debt. In addition to this financial struggle, the Terrapins were ranked last competitively in the ACC and also ranked last in fundraising. Yow’s challenge began the moment she arrived on campus.

Over the next 14 years, Yow made great strides in her quest to elevate Terrapin athletics to the position of a nationally ranked and universally respected athletic program. Immediately upon her arrival, Yow began balancing all 14 departmental budgets and establishing an influx of dollars through marketing and fundraising. Her efforts have paid off monumentally, as private gifts to athletics and corporate sponsorships have increased over 300 percent. Over her tenure, athletic facilities at Maryland have been upgraded dramatically, student-athlete graduation rates have improved significantly, and Maryland programs have garnered seven national championships over the past three seasons. As a capstone, Terrapin athletics was named one of the top 20 programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and Sports Illustrated.

All of these milestones and achievements have caused the collegiate athletic community to look beyond Yow’s gender and to recognize her skill as a leader. She has previously served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and is currently president of the NCAA Division I-Athletic Directors Association. Numerous organizations have honored her for her leadership and vision and she has been recognized as one of the most influential people in collegiate athletics. She is a highly sought after speaker and has written many articles on athletics management. Even with all of these additional responsibilities, Yow’s true passion is still leading the Terrapins to greatness. On a daily basis, she asks her colleagues, student-athletes, and herself to “raise our sights and sharpen our tools . . . to work hard and work smart . . . to recognize that our only limitations are those that we place upon ourselves.”5 Although Yow’s path to the helm of Terrapin athletics may have been unconventional, her success is undeniable. Excellence is in the Yow blood, passed down through Lib and husband Hilton to their highly acclaimed, hard-working children. Yow has worked tirelessly to pass that sense of success and dedication on to the University of Maryland community and, as she tells everyone who will listen, “It’s a great time to be a Terp.”6 What is left unspoken is that this sense of hope, optimism, and greatness in Terrapin territory is due in large part to the efforts of barrier breaker and Director of Athletics Debbie Yow.

Notes

1. Staci D. Kramer, “One to Watch,” The Sporting News, September 5, 1994.

2. Bill Brubaker, “Maryland’s Debbie Yow,” ACC Area Sports Journal, September 17, 1999.

3. David Nakamura and Mark Asher, “U-Md. Names Yow Athletic Director; First Woman to Hold Post in ACC History,” The Washington Post, August 16, 1994.

4. Kramer, “One to Watch.”

5. “Deborah A. Yow,” Director of Athletics, University of Maryland Athletics

6. “Deborah A. Yow.” 100Tblzrs_Text.qxp 3/11/09 3:50 PM Page 80

This exerpt was created by Catherine Lahey