Duke coach Kara Lawson passes on lessons learned from Tennessee legend Pat Summitt

Olivia Sayer, Special to USA TODAYSun, March 29, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC

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Duke coach Kara Lawson passes on lessons learned from Tennessee legend Pat Summitt

SACRAMENTO, CA — Days after the Duke women's basketball team lost in the Elite Eight last year, Blue Devils coach Kara Lawson called guard Taina Mair into her office with a clear goal in mind.

Lawson aimed to push Mair outside of her comfort zone, wanting the typically-guarded player to become a more vocal leader.

“She was like, ‘I need to hear you in my dreams,’” Mair said. “'I need to have nightmares about your voice.'"

The conversation was like one Lawson’s college coach and mentor, late Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, might have had with her.

“Whenever she talks about her, you can see a little glow in her eye,” Duke junior forward Delaney Thomas said of Lawson’s connection with Summitt. “You can tell that she really loved her.”

With her team in its second consecutive Elite Eight, Lawson is ascending to an elite tier of coaches – a group Summitt, who died a decade ago, once led.

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“I know I'm made for this,” Lawson said in the moments after No. 3 seed Duke beat No. 2 LSU with a dramatic buzzer beater on March 27. “And I don't think it. I know I am. And that doesn't mean I think I'm better than anybody.

“But I think when you're walking and aligned in your purpose and what you're meant to do – and you're doing it at the place that you're supposed to be doing it at, with the players that you're supposed to be doing it with – it allows you to just be so clear-minded on things.”

Lawson knew she wanted to coach when she was 7 years old, accompanying her dad to high school games in her home state of Virginia.

She broke in with USA Basketball after a 13-year playing career, working on World Cup and Olympic staffs. The Boston Celtics hired her as an assistant in 2019, making her the first woman coach in franchise history. She’ll be the head coach for the 2028 U.S. Olympic team.

Lawson joined Duke prior to the 2020 season, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the Blue Devils. While playing with the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs, she also was absorbing coaching lessons from Sacramento Kings coaches and front-office staffers such as Jerry Reynolds, Scotty Stirling and Pete Carril, with the latter giving her VHS tapes of game film to break down.

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“I just had a lot of people that poured into me,” Lawson said.

And now, she’s pouring into her players at Duke.

“Coach Kara is kind of like our Coach Summitt,” sophomore forward Toby Fournier said.

The Blue Devils wear the same gear when traveling together, a move inspired by Lawson’s emphasis on displaying a professional image — a priority she inherited from Summitt.

The biggest lesson Lawson drew from Summitt was the family-like atmosphere she experienced at Tennessee. She has cultivated a similar one at Duke, which is perhaps why an interesting idea surfaced the morning of the team’s dramatic victory over LSU.

Gathered for breakfast at their hotel, the Blue Devils were reminiscing with Lawson on some of their memorable moments from the season — and a few of the tougher ones — when the idea came up.

They talked about how they are “all going to be in each other's weddings,” junior forward Jordan Wood said.

Having 13 bridesmaids would be slightly unconventional. But it’s not a crazy idea, given the sisterhood within the Duke locker room. Lawson has constructed a title-contending team at Duke, but she also has built a family.

Just like Summitt did for her.

“When you get there in life, you better stay there,” Lawson said of finding her purpose in coaching. “Because that’s where you’re meant to be.”

Dylan Clearfield contributed to this story. Clearfield and Olivia Sayer are students in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke coach Kara Lawson passes on lessons learned from Pat Summitt

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