AUBURN, Ala. – New Auburn women’s basketball head coach Larry Vickers has been named the Kay Yow Coach of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.
The Kay Yow Award is presented annually to the top head coach in Division I women’s basketball who embodies a winning spirit while displaying great character, on and off the court.
“I’m very humbled and honored to receive the Kay Yow Award,” Vickers said. “It is especially humbling to have my name associated with Kay Yow, one of the all-time greats in our sport and someone who meant so much to the growth and the success of women’s basketball. All of the credit has to go to my players and staff at Norfolk State. This year’s team was a joy to coach, and I’m incredibly grateful to the administration and everyone in Norfolk for supporting our program during this historic season.”
For the 2024-25 season at Norfolk State, Vickers lead the Spartans to a program-record 30 wins, a perfect conference record and the MEAC regular-season and tournament titles. The Spartans entered the NCAA Tournament on a 19-game winning streak, which started in late December with a victory at Auburn. He earned a second win over an SEC opponent with a win at Missouri in November, and the Spartans finished the season ranked No. 4 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
This season, his team ranked 29th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 56.6 points per game. They were also ranked in the top 30 nationally in steals per game (4th – 13.1), turnover forced per game (14th – 21.5), turnover margin (11th – 7.4), scoring margin (13th - +17.6), blocks per game (13th – 5.3) and field goal percentage defense (20th – 36.6%). The Spartans led the MEAC in 16 statistical categories.
In 10 seasons at NSU, Vickers produced a 177-99 record and was named MEAC Coach of the Year three times, winning three straight MEAC Tournament titles and four straight regular-season championships.
CollegeInsider.com pays tribute to one of the true icons of women’s college basketball with the Kay Yow Award.
Yow became the sixth head coach in the history of Division I women’s basketball to reach the 700-win plateau, finishing with a sterling record of 737–344 in her 34 seasons at NC State.
She was the first women’s coach in ACC history to eclipse 600 wins at the same school and directed NC State to 19 top-three finishes in the ACC standings. Her 1997-98 squad advanced all the way to the Final Four in Kansas City.
She was wildly successful in every forum in which she coached, leading gold medal winners at the 1981 World University Games, the 1986 Goodwill Games, 1986 World Championship Games and the 1988 Olympic Games.
As an assistant, Yow was on the Olympic gold medal winning 1984 coaching staff in Los Angeles. In addition, she was an assistant on the gold medal-winning teams at the 1979 World University Games, the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 R. Williams Jones Cup.
Coach Yow had been on a leave of absence from coaching since early January 2009 because of her battle with cancer. She passed away from stage 4 breast cancer on January 24, 2009.
The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.