Susan Yow comes to the Royals with over 35 years of Division I, Division II, WNBA, and USA Basketball coaching experience. The 2015-16 season will be her third at Queens after spending six seasons at Belmont Abbey College.
Yow returned to the collegiate sidelines at Belmont Abbey after spending time in the WNBA as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Rockers-Charlotte Sting & the Minnesota Lynx. She entered the WNBA during the inaugural season and spent three years with the Rockers where they won the Eastern Divisional title in 1998. She then spent one season with the sting and finished out her time with the Minnesota Lynx under then head coach Susie McConnell Serio. Her time with the Crusaders was highlighted by two consecutive 19-10 seasons, along with an 18-11 campaign. During the six year stint, she was able to compile an overall record of 92-77.
Prior to spending time in the WNBA, Yow returned to the collegiate ranks where she spent three seasons leading the Providence College women’s basketball team, helping to rebuild the program in what was the the Big East competing against the likes of powerhouses: UConn, Rutgers, Notre Dame.
Yow began her coaching career in 1978 at East Tennessee State coaching the Bucs until 1986. She then moved on to Drake University from 1986-1990, Kansas State University from 1990-1993, and UNC- Wilmington from 1993-1997. While serving as head coach, Yow began to be seen as a program” builder” and was personally responsible for coordinating and directing the building or rebuilding of each program. “I never saw myself in that light, but like the challenge of instilling competence on-the-court and within the classroom”. Presently six of Queens’ women’s basketball student-athletes have been recognized as part of the South Atlantic Commissioner Honor Roll for 2015.
The Gibsonville, N.C., native earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education from Elon University. While there, she was a spectacular basketball player earning team captain honors in her junior season. She was also named to the Kodak All-American First Team in the inaugural season for the award.
Before her senior season began, Yow transferred to North Carolina State University completing her collegiate career as the first women’s basketball player at the University to ever be named to the Kodak All-American Team after earning first team honors for the second year in a row. During that season, she led the Wolfpack in scoring (19.4 ppg), rebounding (11.9 rpg), field goal percentage (.584) and free throw percentage (.832) while serving as team captain.
The transfer to NCSU from Elon occurred due to a coaching change where her older sister, Kay Yow left Elon to become the head coach at NCSU. During that time period both universities worked hand-in-hand to accommodate the transfer for that one year period. Yow returned to Elon the following summer and completed her BS in Physical Education and returned to NCSU and coached under her sister for two years prior to accepting her first head coaching position at ETSU.
Additionally, Yow has won three gold medals coaching with USA Basketball once as a head coach and two as an assistant. Two of the three were with USA entry level teams and her last gold medal was with the 1988 Olympic Team in Seoul, Korea where she served as an assistant coach under head coach Kay Yow, and assistant coach Sylvia Hatchell, head women’s basketball coach at University of North Carolina.
