Kara Lawson - Starting off on the right foot SPEECH

[BostonBay]

I listened to her speech. Why didnt she define "competing" & more importantly, how do you do it?? She focused on "hard work" & the need to go beyond that. I get it. Just thought she was going to go into what she means by "competing". Maybe that part got cut out of the video. Good message nonetheless.

 

[eebmg]

A little more detailed writeup and embedded videos

Getting to know new women's basketball head coach Kara Lawson

Over the course of the three months since Lawson was named as the head coach, she has shared some of her core tenets of how she will run the Duke women’s basketball program. Built upon her multitude of different experiences, the newly minted coach will implement these ideologies throughout the team.

www.dukechronicle.com

 

[Crossover]

I listened to her speech. Why didnt she define "competing" & more importantly, how do you do it?? She focused on "hard work" & the need to go beyond that. I get it. Just thought she was going to go into what she means by "competing". Maybe that part got cut out of the video. Good message nonetheless.

Oh please, It wasn't a doctoral dissertation. It wasn't even a commencement speech.

 

[uconnfan68]

Kara needs to also focus her magic on the fans. Last I looked before Covid, Duke women's basketball only averaged 3,300 fans a home game. No wonder South Carolina does so well at recruiting - they consistently lead the nation in home attendance with over 10,000 a game (about 13% more than UConn).

SC plays in an 18k+ facility. UConn typically plays in smaller venues (Gampel, Mohegan, B'port)... only XL Center is close at 16k, and they won't play there until next year.

 

[bballnut90]

SC plays in an 18k+ facility. UConn typically plays in smaller venues (Gampel, Mohegan, B'port)... only XL Center is close at 16k, and they won't play there until next year.

Mohegan/Bridgeport aren't technically considered home games despite the home atmosphere, so they aren't averaged into numbers.

UCONN played 7 home games at Gampel last year and cracked 10k for 3 of them, and played 7 home games at XL last year and also only cracked 10k for 3 of them. South Carolina had 10,000+ fans at all 15 of their home games.

 

[Alydar]

Mohegan/Bridgeport aren't technically considered home games despite the home atmosphere, so they aren't averaged into numbers.

UCONN played 7 home games at Gampel last year and cracked 10k for 3 of them, and played 7 home games at XL last year and also only cracked 10k for 3 of them. South Carolina had 10,000+ fans at all 15 of their home games.

I doubt many SC fans ever have to clean the snow off their car and drive on icy roads to get to the arena.
But it's great though that S Car is able to get fans into the games when a lot of other P-5 programs couldn't do it if the tickets were free.

 

[Wbbfan1]

I thought Kara should have told her players what she means by compete and how its different from Hard work.

 

[Jingo]

My favourite Vol was, of course, Chamique Holdsclaw who played with my daughter in high school at Christ the King [Queens] which also produced Huskies Sue Bird & Tina Charles, eh?
But the Kara Lawson/Stacy Dales combo was my [all-time] favourite TV analysts for women's hoops .. their chemistry was the BEST!

 

[DefenseBB]

Kara needs to also focus her magic on the fans. Last I looked before Covid, Duke women's basketball only averaged 3,300 fans a home game. No wonder South Carolina does so well at recruiting - they consistently lead the nation in home attendance with over 10,000 a game (about 13% more than UConn).

There are a lot of S.C. fans on this forum so they can correct if I am wrong on this but in my annually assessment of attendance and the S.C. rise in the ranks, Dawn did an awesome outreach to local schools, club and youth organizations and offered great deals to get fans in the stands (lower ticket prices). UConn already had fans due to all of its history of success and has maintained their higher than most program ticket prices and I would argue that UConn generates mor revenue from their games even with less attendance. So while attendance is nice, it’s still all about the revenue.

 

[bballnut90]

There are a lot of S.C. fans on this forum so they can correct if I am wrong on this but in my annually assessment of attendance and the S.C. rise in the ranks, Dawn did an awesome outreach to local schools, club and youth organizations and offered great deals to get fans in the stands (lower ticket prices). UConn already had fans due to all of its history of success and has maintained their higher than most program ticket prices and I would argue that UConn generates mor revenue from their games even with less attendance. So while attendance is nice, it’s still all about the revenue.

Yeah as far as revenue im confident UCONN's is higher since they charge far more than SC does to attend games.

I dont think the OP was trying to shade UCONN but is pointing out a more recent example of a program that has managed to bring in huge attendance numbers and as a result has fantastic recruiting success, which is what Kara Lawson will try to do at Duke.

 

[Shorty Dee]

Kara Lawson is from the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia), and I root for the hometown woman/man. I love Kara. She is a down to earth person. Even though it is Duke, I will watch to see her on the sidelines and watch her accomplishments.

 

[Geew1992]

 

[WFFL]

Im worried she could end up being the next Geno/Pat/Tara/Mulkey.....she has all the tools , background and championships to prove it on ALMOST every level besides those UCONN years

 

[eebmg]

Im worried she could end up being the next Geno/Pat/Tara/Mulkey.....she has all the tools , background and championships to prove it on ALMOST every level besides those UCONN years

No one appreciates the UConn style more than Kara. I am in favor of any coach that can replicate that style (at some level) but maybe SEC roots run deep?

 

[donalddoowop]

Im worried she could end up being the next Geno/Pat/Tara/Mulkey.....she has all the tools , background and championships to prove it on ALMOST every level besides those UCONN years

All the tools but experience.

 

[Plebe]

Im worried she could end up being the next Geno/Pat/Tara/Mulkey.....she has all the tools , background and championships to prove it on ALMOST every level besides those UCONN years

Why is this worrying? The sport needs great coaches, and specifically a new generation of great coaches. Of the coaches you listed, Pat has passed, Geno and Tara are over 65. and Mulkey at 58 is no spring chicken either.

 

[DefenseBB]

Why is this worrying? The sport needs great coaches, and specifically a new generation of great coaches. Of the coaches you listed, Pat has passed, Geno and Tara are over 65. and Mulkey at 58 is no spring chicken either.

I would argue the next tier also isn’t so young, Kelly-58 in Jan, Vic-59, Wes Moore 63, Doug Bruno-69, followed by the “Spring chickens” of Dawn-50, Scott Rueck-51, Brenda-50, Jeff 49, I would also add that Cori 49 and Jose Fernandez-49 in Nov are close in age to this group but a tier down from them as well.
Kara is 39, Courtney Banghart 42, Adia Barnes 43, Joanna Bernabei-McNamee 45 are comparable with Banghart the most successful to date and all with huge upside. And lest I forget and get harangued from the masses, Carla Berube is 45.
I will say this and give credit to @Dillon77 is Meg Duffy -36 will enlighten many of us here on the BY with her current Covid stricken Marquette squad on her coaching acumen as she’s destined for P5 greatness. If Niele 43 falters, ND has options is all I am saying..

 

[DefenseBB]

So let’s fast forward 5 years and Kara’s done well at Duke, getting top recruits, winning an ACC or 2, making some good runs in the NCAA a final four maybe, a few elite 8s and then bam, Geno retires, does Kara throw her hat into the Basketball Capital of the world ring? I mean talk about challenges following Geno?
Plus, I want to see @triaddukefan and all the LV fans heads explode...

Sorry Triad I could let this feel good thread get you too far down the happiness trail...

 

[BobbyJ]

So let’s fast forward 5 years and Kara’s done well at Duke, getting top recruits, winning an ACC or 2, making some good runs in the NCAA a final four maybe, a few elite 8s and then bam, Geno retires, does Kara throw her hat into the Basketball Capital of the world ring? I mean talk about challenges following Geno?
Plus, I want to see @triaddukefan and all the LV fans heads explode...

Sorry Triad I could let this feel good thread get you too far down the happiness trail...

IMO, it almost always revolves around recruiting. Assuming that her ultimate goal is winning NCs, I’d think that if Lawson feels that Duke’s academics restrict her recruiting pool in any way, she may indeed take a shot at the UConn job.

 

[BostonBay]

I always thought Kara would be a worthy successor to Geno, based on her analysis of the games on ESPN. very knowledgeable & articulate and didnt let the natural bias of where she went to school prevent her from being very praising of Geno and his teams' style of play.

 

[bballnut90]

So let’s fast forward 5 years and Kara’s done well at Duke, getting top recruits, winning an ACC or 2, making some good runs in the NCAA a final four maybe, a few elite 8s and then bam, Geno retires, does Kara throw her hat into the Basketball Capital of the world ring? I mean talk about challenges following Geno?
Plus, I want to see @triaddukefan and all the LV fans heads explode...

Sorry Triad I could let this feel good thread get you too far down the happiness trail...

My guess is Geno will handpick his successor similar to Pat, and there's no way he'll target Lawson IMO. My guess is UCONN stays in the family and goes with Ralph or Berube unless someone else emerges as a strong candidate (maybe Bird if she starts coaching??)

I don't see Kara jumping ship either if she has a good thing going at Duke, unless it's back to Tennessee or to a big time P5 job where they throw a bunch more money at her. Even Tennessee I don't think is a slam dunk since they passed over her last year and she's been critical about the lack of diversity in the AD there.

She's been complimentary of UCONN teams as an announcer but switching from Duke to UCONN is a loaded situation. First, taking over for legend is going to be a very difficult task, and legendary coaches who retire usually hand pick their successor and keep it in the family (ex Pat, Muffet, Barmore). UCONN selecting a Tennessee grad with no ties to the program and no apparent relationship with Geno is bound to get some mixed reactions. UCONN also isn't a P5 school which could be a deterrent and more of a recruiting barrier once Geno retires. She'd also be further from her hometown of DC by a couple of hours.

On the flip side, she's lived in Connecticut working for ESPN and playing for the Sun, so if she likes living there, it could be a great fit. If she's the strongest candidate and UCONN throws big bucks at her, anything is possible but I think she's a big time long shot.

 

[bballnut90]

IMO, it almost always revolves around recruiting. Assuming that her ultimate goal is winning NCs, I’d think that if Lawson feels that Duke’s academics restrict her recruiting pool in any way, she may indeed take a shot at the UConn job.

I don't believe Duke has particularly strict restrictions for athlete admission like Stanford does. Duke was a recruiting powerhouse in the 00s under Gail and McCallie and the men's program has turned into a breeding ground for 1 and dones, so I don't see academic restrictions being limiting unless standards have changed.

 

[triaddukefan]

So let’s fast forward 5 years and Kara’s done well at Duke, getting top recruits, winning an ACC or 2, making some good runs in the NCAA a final four maybe, a few elite 8s and then bam, Geno retires, does Kara throw her hat into the Basketball Capital of the world ring? I mean talk about challenges following Geno?
Plus, I want to see @triaddukefan and all the LV fans heads explode...

Sorry Triad I could let this feel good thread get you too far down the happiness trail...

 

[Dillon77]

I would argue the next tier also isn’t so young, Kelly-58 in Jan, Vic-59, Wes Moore 63, Doug Bruno-69, followed by the “Spring chickens” of Dawn-50, Scott Rueck-51, Brenda-50, Jeff 49, I would also add that Cori 49 and Jose Fernandez-49 in Nov are close in age to this group but a tier down from them as well.
Kara is 39, Courtney Banghart 42, Adia Barnes 43, Joanna Bernabei-McNamee 45 are comparable with Banghart the most successful to date and all with huge upside. And lest I forget and get harangued from the masses, Carla Berube is 45.
I will say this and give credit to @Dillon77 is Meg Duffy -36 will enlighten many of us here on the BY with her current Covid stricken Marquette squad on her coaching acumen as she’s destined for P5 greatness. If Niele 43 falters, ND has options is all I am saying..

As fellow Boneyarders and Benchers know, I'm a fan of Megan Duffy, both as a player and a coach. Regarding the latter:
- Has gone to the postseason in every season she's coached, either as an assitant (St. John's, George Washington or Michigan) or head coach (Miami (Ohio), Marquette).
- She's won 20 games in each of her three seasons as a HC.
- Took over a Marquette team that lost all five starters to graduation (after Caroline Kieger took the HC job at Penn State). The team was picked to finish ninth in a pre-season poll and she led them to a second place finish.
Two of her players -- Junior Selena Lott and frosh Camryn Taylor -- made the All Big East team. They would've easily made the NCAA in 2020.
- Four of her top five scorers from last year are back.
- She landed her first Top 100 prospect in 2021, when forward Kendra Gillispie verbally committed to the Warriors.

I was hoping that MM would've stayed at ND another year or two so Niele Ivey and Megan Duffy could've both had the chance to interview. But ND AD Jack Swarbrick had his sites set for Niele from (before) the get go. Niele, not surprisingly, is off to a fine start recruiting (with Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron verbally committed). Look forward to the upcoming season.

By the way, I'll point out that Megan Duffy has a future HC on her staff in the person of former Dayton star Justine Raterman, who come over to Marquette from Miami with Duffy. She coaches forwards and posts and helped take a middle-of-the-road (ranked) forward in Camryn Taylor and helped her make first team as a frosh. Keep an eye out.

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BTW, former Marquette star and player Carolyn Kieger is still only in her mid-30's herself as she starts her second year at Penn State. It's got to be better than the 7-win season she had last year. And things didn't get much better when her top two returning forwards both transferred. However, she's got two top frosh that she recruited -- Leilani Kapinus and Maddie Burke -- so maybe she'll find the personnel for her style of ball (upbeat, fast, intense).

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There is a certain symmetry to Marquette-Penn State and ND here: Duffy got the job at Marquette because Kieger took over at Penn State for Coquese Washington, who is now at ND for her second stint as an assitant. During her first stint, she was point guard for....you got it...Megan Duffy.