Duke head coach was announced Monday as the new leader of the U.S. women’s basketball team.
A 2008 Olympic gold medalist as a player and an assistant coach on the 2024 championship squad, Lawson now has the chance to achieve the Olympic trifecta when she guides Team USA at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“To win a gold medal as a player was incredible, and it was one of the first goals I set for myself as a kid,” Lawson told ESPN. “That experience drives you because you know how special it feels, and you want the players you coach to share that same joy. It becomes a lasting memory in your sport, and the goal now is to help them create their own at world events.”
At 44, Lawson has been at the helm of Duke since the COVID-shortened 2020–21 season, building a 97–41 record and leading the Blue Devils to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
She succeeds Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, who guided Team USA to its eighth consecutive Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games.
Lawson takes charge of a juggernaut program riding a 60-game Olympic winning streak, though the Americans needed a narrow 67–66 win over France in the 2024 final to keep the streak alive.
“The global game has never been tougher on the women’s side,” Lawson said. “And making the U.S. roster has always been one of the most difficult challenges in sports. But right now, it might be the toughest it’s ever been, with so many accomplished veterans and a wave of young talent already excelling at this level.”
Before coaching, Lawson starred as a point guard at Tennessee and was drafted fifth overall in the 2003 WNBA Draft by the Detroit Shock. She played 13 seasons in the league with the Sacramento Monarchs, Connecticut Sun, and Washington Mystics, averaging 9.8 points per game, earning an All-Star nod in 2007, and winning a championship in 2005.
She later joined the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach in 2019–20 before becoming Duke’s head coach.