Kara Lawson needs to win her first game before she can think about the NCAA tournament, but she has already made a coaching leap once thought to be reserved for Pat Summitt.
Duke introduced Kara Lawson as its new women’s basketball coach Monday on a Zoom call, but the Blue Devils didn’t pick the 39-year-old Tennessee alumnus from another women’s program. They plucked her from the bench of the storied Boston Celtics as an assistant coach under Brad Stephens.
“The Celtics players embraced me,” Lawson said in a Monday Zoom call. “There wasn’t an adjustment period, I didn’t think at all. They absolutely were listening to me and respected me from day one. I think players respect players. That’s been evident in my time with the Celtics.”
A generation ago, Summitt, Tennessee’s late coach, won eight NCAA titles. Her success overlapped a period when the Volunteers’ men’s program was known for underachieving and missing the NCAA Tournament. Eventually it was suggested Tennessee should name Summitt to run the men’s program.
Congrats @karalawson20 welcome to the family!! https://t.co/L1qDroNzTz
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) July 11, 2020
Lawson was part of Tennessee’s dynasty as a 5-foot-8 shooting guard. She was a two-time All-American pick that led the Volunteers to three Final Four trips.
She went on to play 13 WNBA seasons from 2003 through 2015, including a WNBA title in 2005 with the Sacramento Monarchs. She also played on the USA women’ basketball team that won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
Lawson’s college and pro playing days spanned nearly two decades, but coaching was always an ambition.
“I have wanted to be a coach since I was a kid,” she said. “To have an opportunity to lead a group of young women at a prestigious university like Duke – I have run out of words. It is unbelievable and very exciting.”
Lawson’s first coaching experience also spanned the gender gap. She was coaching USA Basketball men’s and women’s 3-on-3 teams to international success. Her Under-18 women and Under-18 men won six gold medals in FIBA and Pan American competition.
“That’s how I started coaching,” she said. “I was very comfortable in both spaces. Are there some differences? Sure, but not as many as you think. I wouldn’t say it was a transition. The biggest transition is levels. The rules are different so that changes how you attack on each end differently. But as far as coaching men and women’s, that ends to be seamless.”
Lawson also matches the evolving times with her transition from ESPN TV analyst for WNBA games to coaching. That’s another generational change. The Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr went from TV to guiding NBA championship teams. It used to be fired coaches became analysts.
“There’s a lot to be gained working on the broadcast side,” she said. “It allows you to follow and interact with so many coaches to watch practices and games. The main thing I learned is there are a lot of ways to be successful. Not every coach coaches the same way. They coach the way that works for their players. It was fun to watch how coaches deal with situations on an off the court.”
Lawson’s challenge is to return Duke to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference as a Final Four contender. The program had stagnated under Joanne P. McCallie. Duke hasn’t won an ACC title since 2013 and missed the NCAA Tournament two of the past four seasons.
Gail Goestenkors took Duke an NCAA runner-up finish in 1999. She led the Blue Devils to the Sweet Sixteen 10 straight years with seven Elite Eights before she left Duke for Texas.
Lawson’s mentor Summit stepped down from coaching in 2012 with the early onset of dementia that took her life in 2016. Although Summit never desired the men’s job – she once said she didn’t want taking the job to be viewed as a step up – she must be smiling down upon her star player.
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Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
https://www.augustpublications.com/
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