The U.S. women's national team is gaining a red, white and Blue Devil, with Duke head coach Kara Lawson slated to join the team as an assistant coach for the upcoming FIBA Women's World Cup in Sydney, Australia. The organization announced the post Thursday afternoon.
"Over the last 25 years, every minute I've spent working with USA Basketball has been an absolute joy," Lawson said in a release. "To now be selected to assist [head coach Cheryl Reeves] at the upcoming World Cup is an incredible honor. Having played on the National Team, I understand the importance of this new appointment. I promise to represent our country with great pride this fall. I will do my part to help our players and staff be as prepared as possible to experience the greatest success in Australia. I want to thank General Dempsey, the Board, Jim Tooley and the Selection Committee for their belief in me. Go USA!"
From Sept. 22 to Oct. 1, Lawson will coach alongside Reeves, also the head coach of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, and fellow assistants Mike Thibault, head coach of the Washington Mystics, and Joni Taylor, head coach at Texas A&M.
This announcement is the next chapter of Lawson's journey with Team USA. She first joined the team for the World University Games in 2001, where she won a gold medal, and she again represented the United States at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2008, she helped Team USA win gold, leading the team in points in the gold medal game against Australia after going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
After her time playing with Team USA, Lawson was named the head coach of the women's 3x3 team in 2017, which won gold at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The former WNBA All-Star has been head coach at Duke since the shortened 2020-21 season, and she was formerly an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics of the NBA.
When the tournament commences, Lawson will help Team USA as it pursues its fourth consecutive World Cup gold.
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Sasha Richie is a Trinity senior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.