ACC diary, pt. 2: The unexpected key to Duke's success
As we prepare for Selection Sunday, let's relive the end of the ACC tournament.
Hi, friends! Selection Sunday is here, and at 8:00 p.m. tonight we will know the brackets and I will have a better idea of what my schedule looks like the next week. I’m going to spend the selection show with the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and I can’t wait. The Spartans won the Southern Conference Tournament last weekend with an overtime victory over Chattanooga to make it to the Big Dance for the first time since 1998. It’s likely they’ll get a No. 15 or No. 16 seed, and might even be in the First Four, so I’m excited to watch them find out in real time and take you all on that journey with me!
I will also be paying close attention to what seeds Duke, N.C. State, and UNC get; it’s likely they will all be top four seeds, meaning they will all be hosting games in the first and second rounds, and I plan to be at those schools in person for those games and media availabilities as frequently as the NCAA’s scheduling will allow!
Over the past month I’ve learned a lot about the history of women’s basketball and how it connects with my great state of North Carolina, and I look forward to bringing you all lots of coverage over this tournament that does what I think Power Plays does best — tie the history together with what is happening on the court and in society today. It’s going to be a special journey, and I’m so blessed that you all have made it possible for me to take it!
Plus, I’m going to finish up the NCAA tournament covering the Final Four in Tampa for Power Plays!!
But first, I realize that as I have been preparing for all the potential coverage and travel scenarios that might pop up this week, I never actually wrapped a bow on the ACC tournament — which is, unfortunately, extremely on-brand and ADHD of me. So, without further adieu, let’s rewind the clock one week as I empty my ACC tournament notebook.
GREENSBORO, NC — After Duke upset Notre Dame 61-56 in the ACC tournament semifinals last Saturday afternoon, head coach Kara Lawson sat on the podium beside her star players Ashlon Jackson and Oluchi Okananwa and tried to find the words to describe the energy of her team.
“There's so many adjectives that flood into my mind, and they change daily. They are just, like, off the wall sometimes. They're very loud. They're very sweet and nice. Sometimes they're annoying. They just have it all. We have so many different characters. They all have great senses of humor,” Lawson said.
“I think what I love — I love a lot of things about this team, but they all have a good sense of humor. Like, we can make fun of one another, which I think is like a critical thing. Everyone can take a joke. They make fun of me a lot, too, and I think that's good when you have that in your relationship with your players and they have it with it each other, is if somebody does something we're going to make fun of them the next day. I had a good one this morning, right? We laugh, and nobody is above getting made fun of. I think that's important.”
Friends, I’ll be honest: I did not see that answer coming!
I haven’t spent an extensive period of time with the Duke program in the five years since Lawson took the job, but all interactions I have had with Lawson have reinforced my perception of her as a caring and passionate yet exceedingly serious and intense person. Of course, most great coaches have those characteristics. But some — such as Wes Moore and Dawn Staley — use humor as an integral part of their public personas. Lawson does not show that side of herself to the media often.
But, when I talked to Duke players in the locker room, they assured me that there was much more to Lawson than what meets the eye.