WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Glance wants head job, will attack recruiting first

By Tim Hall

Mar 3, 2009

No team has had to endure what the N.C. State Wolfpack has this season. No coach has had the task Stephanie Glance has.

Her longtime friend, mentor and head coach and icon for women's basketball, Kay Yow, passed away on Jan. 24 after a 22-year fight with breast cancer. Yow wanted Glance to be named her successor as head coach of the Wolfpack, but a national search will continue nonetheless. Glance has made it known that she wants to be the next coach, and recruiting will be the first issue addressed if she is named to the job.

"It's one of those things that's just part of life," Glance told The Sports Lunch on 99.9 The Fan on Monday. "Sometimes you have to wait and be patient, and that's what I feel like I'm trying to do now."

Athletics Director Lee Fowler said last week when speaking at the Raleigh Sports Club that it was two years ago when Kay Yow came to him first. She had just learned of the recurrence of her cancer, and she asked for Glance to be named the coach in waiting. Fowler said that is not something that's done at N.C. State, however.

That there would be a coaching search was no surprise to Glance.

"Yes, it is an emotional thing, but it's also a professional thing," Glance said. "I would love to be at N.C. State because N.C. State believes I am the best-qualified for this job."

The women's basketball "neighbors" in the Triangle are both ranked in the Top 10 and are two of the premier teams in the country this year. N.C. State is 13-16. Glance says that catching the University of North Carolina and Duke starts with recruiting.

Recruiting the top players to N.C. State was her job for 15 years, according to Glance, but it did change for her over the last couple of years due to Yow's condition. She had to assume more responsibility for day-to-day operations of the program.

"It's really about recruiting. It's the lifeline of the program," Glance said. "Once a staff is in place at N.C. State, it is all about recruiting, and it's going out and getting the top players in the country."