10 seasons later: Why NC State women’s basketball has found home success since Reynolds Coliseum renovation

Just 18 months after he was hired by NC State following 15 seasons at Chattanooga, Wes Moore approached then-Athletic Director Debbie Yow to talk about Reynolds Coliseum, the Pack’s then-72-year-old home venue that was constructed before World War II.  “Debbie, I know you love Reynolds like I love Reynolds,” Moore told his boss, “but for a 17-year-old, it’s just an old, tired building.” Moore had great ambitions to lead NC State back to the place Kay Yow, Debbie’s older sister, had accomplished with 737 wins in her 34-year tenure in Raleigh. He wanted deep runs in the postseason to become the norm yet again, and the cavernous building that lacked air conditioning and other modern amenities made it tough on recruiting, at times. Although the arena had seen the likes of Norm Sloan and David Thompson, or Jim Valvano and the Cardiac Pack, it wasn’t up with the times anymore. While Moore was looking to get the building updated, Yow shared a similar sentiment with it on her to-do list, but didn’t have the funds to make any major changes to the storied on-campus building.  Soon enough, that changed. Just over a year after that initial conversation between Moore and Yow, the athletic department raised $20 million through the Wolfpack Club, while the university chipped in to cover $15 million of a renovation project — a first for Yow, but a crucial part of the plans to remodel the famed stage.