North Carolina State Ends Glance's Candidacy To Succeed Kay Yow

(Guru's note: Changing date of meeting from Wednesday in original post to Thursday)

By Mel Greenberg

North Carolina State will be going outside the Wolfpack family to hire a successor to Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Kay Yow, who died in late January after a lengthy battle with breast cancer.

Yow, the players and fan base had desired longtime assistant coach Stephanie Glance to be Yow's successor. Glance has served several stints as interim coach during Yow's illness and after her passing.

However, several sources familiar with the decision process confirmed that athletic director Lee Fowler has told Glance that she is no longer under consideration to become the permanent coach.

Fowler and Glance met Thursday, according to one of the sources.

WRAL-TV reported later in the day that Glance would not be retained.

Glance could not be reached for comment.

Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper, a 1999 Tennessee graduate whose team won the Southern Conference title, is considered the leading candidate, according to several sources.

Another name that has been mentioned is Tennessee-Chattanooga coach Wes Moore, who was an assistant to Yow in the late 1990s.

An announcement is expected next week.

Yow's staff has been in limbo since her passing in terms of its future status.

Many prominent coaches, some who were contacted but would not confirm on the record, had refrained from getting involved once it was known Glance wanted the job.

Furthermore, a source indicated the job was not going to pay anything substantial.

Fowler, a graduate of Vanderbilt who became athletic director of the Wolfpack in 2000, will likely face a firestorm of reaction from the Yow faithful as word of his intentions become public.

Some followers of the program who were attending the NCAA tournament in St. Louis felt that perhaps a two-year deal for Glance could enable a smoother transition from the Yow era.

However, it appears that Fowler wants to put his own stamp on the program with the hire directly beholden to him. When Yow announced a month before her death she would not return for the season, there was speculation that when the time came, he would move to someone with Tennessee roots.

Harper's advantage over Moore would be gender, youth, her residence in North Carolina, and her success at Tennessee where she is best remembered for overcoming a knee injury to help land an NCAA title.

-- Mel