The Duke women's basketball program has had lots of success under head coach Kara Lawson, and the program is looking to build on that in 2025-26. Lawson has now achieved a new honor as the Blue Devil women's hoops head coach, as she has been selected to coach Team USA in the 2025 US Women's AmeriCup. The event is scheduled for June 28th-July 6th in Santiago, Chile.
The US has won the FIBA Women's AmeriCup four times and is 34-9 all-time in the event.
"I'm incredibly honored to be named the 2025 Women's AmeriCup Head Coach by USA Basketball," Lawson said after she was named the team's head coach. "The opportunity to work with some of the top players in the country, and the opportunity to coach alongside some of the top coaches in the country, is something I'm very excited about. I always look forward to serving USA Basketball in any capacity that I am asked."
This is just the next big accolade of Lawson's storied coaching career, with her current stop being in Durham trying to bring the Duke program its first national championship.
The incoming sixth-year Blue Devil coach began her career as an assistant for the Boston Celtics in 2019 before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. She then took over for the Blue Devils. Previously, Lawson was an analyst for NBC Sports Washington and ESPN. She also served as a color commentator with NBC for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Lawson has also worked with USA Basketball previously. She most recently served as an assistant coach for the US Women's National Team, which won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, and led the US 3x3 Women's National Team to a gold medal in the 2024 Olympics.
This marked the coach's tenth Olympic gold medal and seventh as a coach, making her the third woman in Olympic history to win gold as both a player and head coach in basketball, along with Anne Donovan and Dawn Staley.
Lawson is also gearing up for a 2025-26 Duke team with high expectations. The program made it to the Elite 8 as a 2-seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and is bringing back most of its key rotation players, including ACC Rookie of the Year Toby Fournier and sharpshooter Ashlon Jackson.