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Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan checked in with VirginiaSports.com this week to talk about the loss of two close friends. Virginia tips off against Maryland on Friday night at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be televised by the ACC’s Regional Sports Network.
Question: You had two significant losses this past week, former UVa dean of admission Jack Blackburn and NC State head coach Kay Yow. Can you talk about what those two people meant to you.
Ryan: Jack was the dean of admission at Virginia and a great friend of ours and a great friend of the program. We will miss him dearly. He had a valiant fight against cancer in these past few months. He was a great pioneer at the University. He did so many things for students who really couldn’t afford to come to this university. He made it possible for them to fulfill their dreams. I’m really going to miss Jack. Cancer is a difficult thing and I’m just happy that he’s at peace now.
Kay was another special, special person to me. We fought for eight years together the cancers that we had and became very, very close in the 32 years that I’ve been at Virginia. She was a mentor for me. She was someone who taught me a lot of things about being a professional in this particular profession. She gave so much to the game and I’m really sad to have lost Kay Yow.
Question: What made Kay Yow such a special person?
Ryan: She was a classic coach in every sense of the word. She coached not only her team and her players, but also those around her. She coached me. She coached me as a person. She coached me as a friend. She did so much to help me understand what is important and what isn’t. The things she told me were like gifts to me.
She was never one to shy away from a huge task, an insurmountable task. Which I think was why she had no problem talking to people or standing up in front of people despite how she felt; despite the way she was struggling and battling — not only against the disease itself, but also against some pretty terrible side effects.
Question: How tough is it to battle cancer while still being a head coach?
Ryan: N.C. State deserves a lot of applause for the way they helped Kay through a very tough time. It was a great thing for her, I think, to continue to coach. It helped her stay active. It gave her a purpose. It gave her a reason to continue to fight and hold on.
Question: Looking forward to Maryland, how can your team bounce back from its last appearance at JPJA, a loss to Florida State?
Ryan: We have to defend better, that’s the bottom line. We’ve had two games where we’ve allowed a team to shoot 50 percent or better in a half. Our team has been challenged to do a better job defensively.