The coach that helped Kara Lawson build Duke back into a contender

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It had been 19 years since Tia Jackson cut down a net.

Back then, in 2006, she was an assistant coach for Gail Goestenkors’ Duke Blue Devils, and the team led by Monique Currie and Lindsay Harding improbably defeated UConn in the Bridgeport, Connecticut regional in overtime. The victory marked Duke’s fourth trip to the Final Four.

That was arguably the last great era of Duke women’s basketball. They’ve won since then, of course. The Blue Devils went to Elite Eights and were NCAA tournament regulars with teams coached by Joanne P. McCallie that were led on the court by the likes of Chelsea Gray and Elizabeth Williams. But the consistency of Duke winning at a high level waned. After missing the Big Dance in 2019, the McCallie era ended in the summer of 2020 as she resigned amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duke turned to Kara Lawson to resurrect the program and restore it to prominence. A former player for the legendary Pat Summitt at Tennessee, Lawson had coached with Team USA and in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, but had no college coaching experience. As she was assembling her staff, Lawson found someone who had it in boatloads.

So, Tia Jackson returned to Duke that summer to help Lawson build.

And now, five years into Lawson’s tenure, a championship has returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium too.

Jackson got to climb a ladder with a pair of scissors in her hand again on Sunday, March 9, at the Greensboro Coliseum, as the third-seeded Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament title by beating local rival N.C. State 76-62 behind 22 points and 10 rebounds in a spectacular off-the-bench effort from sophomore Oluchi Okananwa, who took home tournament MVP honors.

It marked Duke’s first ACC Tournament title since 2013. The Blue Devils won it by beating the top seeded teams, Notre Dame in the semifinals and N.C. State in the championship.

Now, they’re a No. 2 seed in March Madness, hosting first- and second-round games this weekend, and they seem primed for a deep run in the tournament.

Duke is back on top in women’s college basketball. Like the Blue Devils did under Goestenkors, they look like one of the sport’s signature programs again. The connecting throughline is the presence of Jackson, sitting five seats down from the scorer’s table on the bench.

From Lawson’s first season in Durham five years ago to now, Jackson is the lone assistant coach that remains from her original staff. And Jackson – who comes from a humble background, growing up on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and playing at tiny Mardela High School where she transformed herself into the region’s best women’s basketball prospects decades ago – will deflect credit for getting Duke back to contending status.

But Lawson is more than willing to heap praise on her.

“She’s been the most important figure in my growth and maturation as a head coach,” Lawson told SB Nation. “From the beginning, she taught me how to be a coach in college. I know basketball – it’s not that – but all the things around it, right? All the things that go into running a program. She’s been under some of the greats, and so, it’s just wisdom and knowledge from her.”

Duke’s players are eager to compliment Jackson too.

“I can say so much about Coach Tia,” ACC Rookie of the Year Toby Fournier told SB Nation. “I love her with all my heart. She’s been with me through all the tough times, and I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done. And I’m also excited to continue to grow with her, because I know that this year I’ve seen a lot of progress in my game, and she’s helped me continue to develop into the player that I want to become.”

Mitchell Northam / SB Nation

When Lawson was hired at Duke in July 2020, Jackson was one of the first calls she made. Her reputation in coaching circles was well known as a great recruiter and a trusted advisor. At that point, she was Katie Meier’s top lieutenant at Miami, but had also worked for Hall of Famers Tara VanDerveer and C. Vivian Stringer, in addition to her previous stint in Durham under Goestenkors.

Her stint as a head coach at Washington was an unsuccessful one, but Jackson knows how to run a program. She knows all the ins and outs of college basketball. She’s collected insight and knowledge from some of the greatest coaches the sport has ever seen. Before coming back to Duke, Jackson had helped guide nine teams to the NCAA tournament in 20 seasons as an assistant coach.

When Jackson’s phone rang in the summer of 2020, she was intrigued by two things. First, for the opportunity to work for someone like Lawson. And second, to return to a place where she had previously enjoyed so much success. It was an easy decision.

“It was a no-brainer to come back. One, to work for Kara. She’s an icon in our sport. She’s proven it over the last five years. Her leadership, her direction, it’s been amazing. She’s brought in the right people. Our staff is outstanding,” Jackson told SB Nation. “The types of kids we bring into Duke, they’re just remarkable individuals. So, to come and work for her, and to be able to do it here – my second time being at Duke – it’s kind of the perfect combination.”

While Lawson initially wanted Jackson on her staff because of what she saw on paper – her years of invaluable experience – she has learned over the past five seasons that Jackson brings something else to the table: a willingness to challenge Lawson and tell her when she’s wrong.

“Coach Tia is very loyal. She’s going to tell me the truth,” Lawson said. “She’s going to tell me when I make mistakes. And you need that as a head coach. You don’t need just ‘yes’ people. You need people that call you on your stuff sometimes. So, we’re not here without her. I’m certainly not here without her. She’s as important a figure in these last five years as anybody in our program.”

Mitchell Northam / SB Nation

Lawson’s start to being a head coach was a bumpy one. Just four games into her first season, Duke canceled its 2020-21 campaign because of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the program. So, technically, when the season ended, Duke was the worst team in the ACC. The Blue Devils went 17-13 the next season, then the year after that – her third – they broke through and made the NCAA tournament. This year marks the Blue Devils’ third consecutive trip to the Big Dance.

Along the way, Lawson adapted and changed her style and approach as a coach. She had to figure out who she wanted to surround herself with and her coaching staff changed. Players entered and left the program and she had to decide what qualities she was going to emphasize in recruiting. She got more comfortable in bantering with the local media. And her team embraced a defense-first mindset.

“I’m glad I came into a situation where we were the worst team in the league and we had to build it, because then you have to really think about foundationally, what you’re going to be about,” Lawson said. “You have to think about how you’re going to build it. You know, it’s not a remodel, it’s a build. So we thought about that, and then we tried to be as calculated as we could about the type of players that we wanted to bring in.”

From last season to this one, Duke was one of just three Power 4 programs that didn’t lose a single player to the transfer portal. In this era of college basketball, that’s not just rare, it’s extraordinary.

“That’s a strong statement to what our players feel about Duke and the development,” Lawson said. “And that’s the type of program we want to be. We want to continue to just grow our players and continue to get continuity.”

Added Jackson: “This run has been amazing. And I can’t just say this year – the last couple years this group has hung together. It’s rare, and it shows. The resilience of this team, the connectivity… I get emotional just thinking about them. They’ve been an awesome group to coach.”

In many ways, Duke is synonymous with college basketball. And sure, what Mike Krzyzewski accomplished on the men’s side of the sport is a big part of that, but the women’s program has also experienced high levels of success in the last few decades. Goestenkors and McCallie combined for eight ACC Tournament titles. Duke cares about women’s basketball in a way that a lot of schools in the country don’t. They’re invested in it. That’s why when McCallie resigned in the middle of the summer amidst a global pandemic, they took the biggest swing they could, luring Lawson away from the NBA.

It had been 12 years between ACC Championships for the Blue Devils. As Duke players made snow angels in the confetti on the floor of the Greensboro Coliseum, athletic director Nina King – who, despite being the deputy back in 2020, led the search that ended with the Blue Devils hiring Lawson – cracked a smile that could have lit up the whole building. The story of women’s college basketball in the modern era is littered with tales about Duke. Now, together, King, Lawson, Jackson and this team are in the midst of adding their own chapter.

And along the way, Jackson has constantly been in Lawson’s corner and in her ear. Watch a Duke game and you’ll see the 52-year-old spring up from the bench and dart into the coaches box and tap Lawson on the shoulder. She might be offering advice or a tip, or even some gentle criticism. And Lawson can give it right back.

Like Jackson said, it’s the perfect combination, and one that has worked for the Blue Devils.

“She colors outside the lines, and we like that,” Jackson said of Lawson. “She challenges everybody, from the players to the staff, and we continue to get better and better. I’m so grateful for her just kind of nudging us every day and keeping us on our toes and keeping us together and keeping us hungry. When we keep that mix together, we’re pretty fearless.”

One of the few other people that has been at Duke all five seasons with Lawson and Jackson is point guard Vanessa de Jesus. She originally committed to Duke when McCallie was still the coach, but has stuck around for the long run under Lawson.

She too recognizes what Jackson means to the program.

“Coach Tia means everything,” de Jesus said. “She’s so funny, she’s a jokester, and she’s kind of like the mom of the group. I think she’s one person that keeps us together. She brings so much wisdom from all her years of coaching, and I’m just happy she’s here at Duke.”

Mitchell Northam / SB Nation

After ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips had handed the trophy over to the Blue Devils and after the commemorative hats and shirts were given out, it was time for Duke to cut down the nets in Greensboro. Before the first player climbed the ladder to start cutting at the nylon, Lawson stationed herself right in front of it.

As each player and staff member climbed the ladder, Lawson handed over the scissors and then began pointing and shouting instructions. No one was to go wild and cut however big a piece they wanted. There was a process to net cutting, and Lawson had done this before, many times. While playing for Pat Summitt at Tennessee, she won an SEC Tournament and went to three Final Fours. She won a championship in the WNBA with the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs.

If there was one thing Lawson knew how to do better than anyone else in the building on that Sunday, it was how to cut down a net. And so, every person who climbed the ladder received and followed her instructions.

“I think it’s the first net cutting for a lot of them, so I just wanted to show them how it’s done or talk them through it,” Lawson said. “The heights thing is a real thing when you get up there, and sometimes it can be disorienting.”

Hours before Lawson won her first championship as a coach, the person who taught her how to take a pair of scissors to a basketball hoop was on her mind.

“I definitely thought of Coach Summit,” Lawson said. “Definitely thought of her this morning and how excited she would be for the opportunity that we had. And that defensive performance in the second half, man, that was close to the Tennessee defense back in the day. It was pretty good.”

Jackson never worked for Summitt, but the late legendary coach knew who she was. Jackson won the one-on-one competition at Summitt’s camp in Knoxville as a high school junior in 1988. A year later, Summitt traveled to Mardela Springs – population 354 – to recruit the player who would end her high school career with more than 3,000 points. As a senior, Jackson averaged 43.2 points and 19.1 rebounds per game.

Perhaps the reason why Lawson and others revere Jackson so much as a coach is because her first two were some of the best ones. Before she went on to play for C. Vivian Stringer at Iowa – where she helped the Hawkeyes go to the Final Four in 1993 – Jackson learned the game from Barbara McCool. As a high schooler, Jackson towered over her, but she probably wouldn’t have become the player she was or coach she is today without the fiery McCool guiding her every step of the way. McCool drove Jackson to camps across the country in the late 1980s, designed workouts for her and cut up film of her highlights to send to college coaches. In those days, long before YouTube and cell phones, Jackson isn’t noticed by the likes of Summitt, Stringer and Muffet McGraw without McCool’s help. Jackson’s career in basketball began when McCool bumped into her in the hallway as a freshman.

“Do you play basketball?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Well, you do now.”

Jackson’s No. 11 jersey now hangs in that school after she won three Bayside Conference Player of the Year awards. McCool coached nearly until the day she died – in 2009 at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer – and won 605 games, more than any other girls basketball coach on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. And Jackson is the best player she ever had. Through coaching, McCool’s legacy continues on in her.

“I try my best to make her proud, showing some examples of that in what I do,” Jackson said.

After all the Duke players cut their Lawson-approved piece of nylon from the rim, the staff and assistant coaches lined up. Jackson was the second-to-last person to climb the ladder. She trimmed her piece off, smiled and waved it around, then descended. She hugged Lawson in a long embrace, then handed the scissors over to her. Like she saw Summitt do several times, Lawson removed the rest of the net, smiled and laughed and she twirled it around atop the ladder.

Standing off to the side near a pile of confetti was Elizabeth Williams, beaming from ear to ear. She was on the last Duke team that accomplished this feat. She climbed a ladder in this building to trim down a net. The former four-time All-American and a four-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year had waited a long time to see her Blue Devils do it again.

“It’s really special to see. Obviously, this program means a lot to me,” Williams told SB Nation. “It’s cool to see it come full circle and to see how Kara has kind of built this program back up.”

But a bigger court awaits the Blue Devils. For Lawson, Jackson, Fournier, de Jesus and the rest of this Duke team, there are more games to win, tougher opponents to defeat and, potentially, more nets to cut down.

“We’re still trying to get to the top. We’re obviously proving it,” Jackson said. “But at the end of the day, the NCAA tournament is right around the corner and we’re not done, we’re definitely not finished. We’re going to get back to work.”