Head coach Kara Lawson walked into her ACC Tipoff media availability the same way she always does: cool, confident, collected. In many ways, things felt the same as they have in past seasons. The preseason drive to Charlotte is a business trip: do some photoshoots, answer 30 minutes’ worth of questions in the scrum, do a formal press conference, go on TV for some interviews and then drive back to Durham. This year, Lawson brought two players with her — junior guard Ashlon Jackson was there for her first time, while senior Reigan Richardson came for the third consecutive year.
But when I got to Tipoff this year to talk to Lawson and her players for The Chronicle’s preseason coverage, something felt different. There was a noticeable contrast between the questions being asked by members of the national media this season and what I had heard last year. In 2023, the overarching theme had been about the losses in the offseason, including superstar guard Celeste Taylor and standout Shayeann Day-Wilson. Nor were the demands of the media primarily surrounding the incoming freshmen (as was the case last season), several of whom would go on to play critical roles very early on in their college careers.
The narrative was different.
No longer underdogs
The past few years, this team has been a surprise. It has overperformed projections, climbing from polls placing Lawson’s group at the bottom half of ACC standings to strong finishes in conference play, and most recently, an impressive run to the Sweet 16. What was statistically one of the best defenses in all of college basketball kept margins tight and permitted late-game comebacks, even when the offense struggled to find consistency. But as the performances have improved, the expectations have grown.
The ACC’s preseason poll, as voted on by all 18 head coaches and its Blue Ribbon Panel, projected the Blue Devils to finish third in the conference. Richardson landed on the All-ACC Preseason watchlist, while freshman phenom Toby Fournier was selected at the top of the newcomers list. Duke comes into this season ranked No. 11 in the country in the AP Poll. Last season, the Blue Devils never even made the list.
Not that any of this matters for Lawson. Now in my third year writing about this team, I gave up asking about long-term goals a long time ago. Whether what they say about expectations is true or not, the answer from Lawson or her players will always be the same.
“We look more at October than we do March,” Lawson said in response to a question about finding postseason success. “I'm sure at some point, probably in March, we'll think about March. But for right now, we've just been focusing on trying to get our system installed, get our young players understanding what we're trying to do on both ends, and just try to build this new chemistry for this group.”
Stability and its benefits
After several seasons of transfers in and out and some tumultuous recruitment cycles — along with this summer’s rumors that Lawson was a target for the newly-vacant coaching job at her alma mater Tennessee — things have settled down.
Now, every player but one is someone Lawson brought into the program herself, with the exception being talented graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus. The wealth of returning talent and experience is certainly the most Lawson has had since the start of her coaching career, and it provides a degree of the stability this program hasn’t seen in years. Now having built up the foundations and support structures required to successfully manage a program with the size and history of Duke’s, Kara Lawson can finally focus on doing what she does best: making her players into the best versions of themselves they can be.
“There's certain things that you don't have to say as much with them … you can get to deeper layers with them, personally, which I enjoy,” Lawson said of her returners. “You kind of have an understanding of where they're strong and where they struggle, and you can kind of get to that next step in your relationships with them, because you have them back.”
Perhaps there is no better example of what playing for Lawson can do for an athlete than in Richardson’s transformation. After a solid freshman year coming off the bench for Georgia, the Charlotte native hit the portal and ended up in Durham. Now in her final year of college basketball, she is talked about as one of the best two-way guards in the conference. Whenever Lawson talks about Richardson, she lights up.
“When she first got to Duke, it was hard for her to settle herself down when we were in games,” Lawson said. “And now she's a senior and much better at that. She's got just such an outstanding work ethic, she's always had that. … Reigan always works hard, and it's just been fun to be around her as a senior”.
Richardson didn’t shy away from giving Lawson her flowers, either.
“Everybody has their GOATs, but to me, Coach Kara is my GOAT,” Richardson said. “Just hearing that from her, I definitely have struggled over the course of the three years. Just seeing how much I've grown from my first year to this year, it does make me proud to see how much that I have grown and just continue to grow in those kind of aspects.”
From every player who spoke, the message was clear: Lawson demands a lot, but rewards performance. Learning her system is challenging both mentally and physically, especially for new players. But once the system has been installed, players reap the benefits.
Junior guard Emma Koabel certainly has had that experience, having spent most of her freshman year on the bench. After a summer of development, she saw a significant uptick in her minutes. Lawson described Koabel’s offseason defensive transformation as one of the most impressive she had ever seen.
“Kara is special. Our relationship is special. If it wasn't for her. I definitely wouldn't be where I am playing on this floor today,” said Koabel. “She's built me up, given me confidence. She's really helped me, even after my freshman year not seeing much time, she worked with me all summer, built me to the player that I am today, and really gave me the confidence and the work ethic that I needed to be here today.”
Now that the team’s culture and expectations are thoroughly defined, everything else gets easier. Lawson doesn’t have to deal with an almost entirely new group coming into the season. With so many veterans returning, they can help with the installation of “the system” and allow the coach to use her talents elsewhere. The baseline is just a little higher than it was last year.
Even the recruitment process has gotten easier over the years. While at one point Lawson may have had to push a little harder to bring players into a new regime with fewer proven successes, her team’s performances (often despite less-than-ideal circumstances) now speak for themselves. Newcomers know what they’re getting into.
“I just try to be as transparent as possible, to be honest in the recruiting process,” Lawson said. “‘This is what it's like here’, and I just feel like that resonates with the kids that's supposed to, and it won't resonate with the kids that it's not supposed to.”
Into the season
And so it begins. For the first time since she got here, Kara Lawson finally has everything she needs. She has grizzled postseason veterans in her upperclassmen, all of whom have seen a Sweet 16 game. She has young, high-upside talents. She has a team with an established culture and identity, and players who believe in it. She has a coaching staff with skills across the spectrum of basketball that now includes former Volunteer teammate Kyra Elzy. The numbers say that this group is geared up to be the best team Lawson has coached since she came to Durham, and the media seems to agree.
Not that any of this matters to Lawson or her players. To them, it’s just another season, another opportunity to show what they’re made of. They’ve been working for more than a month now as a team, tuning out the noise and building chemistry.
Editor’s note: This piece is one of many in The Chronicle’s 2024-25 Duke women’s basketball preview. Check out the rest here.
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Martin Heintzelman is a Trinity junior and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.