She graduated from Pepperdine in three years, and redshirted her freshman year. So she has one year of eligibility left.
2025-26 DWBB
- Thread starter CameronBornAndBred
- Start date
I can understand the appeal of building something up and being “the” guy/girl but it didn’t work with Elko and I don’t think it’ll work for Kara (or Manny) long term. You’re still living in a shadow (Duke MBB) either way and I don’t think the shadow feels as dark when it was your coach (see Scheyer). I think if UT comes calling with a pile of money and the right org Kara would go.
But I hope I’m wrong!
But I hope I’m wrong!
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
One thing to also consider is that Tennessee can offer something Duke can't. Conference security. That might alone be worth more than money, but coupled with money...
Phredd3
Member
Well, you can't rule anything out, but I also haven't seen any evidence that this is the case. I don't think she feels she is competing with men's basketball in any relevant way. In any case, in the absence of any information in support of the idea that she's leaving, I'm going to assume she stays.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
Well, LSU may have been upset by Duke (yay!), but Mulkey upsets me on the regular...
sagegrouse
Member
Your view is not shared by all on this Board. Wasn't Nina Kevin White's anointed successor? White replaced Alleva. We got an experienced level-headed AD in place of something else.
Yes. White brought King to Duke as his chief of staff and heir apparent. Technically, Kevin White hired Kara, although it’s acknowledged that Nina King did much of the search and background work.
It’s probable that some dislike Kevin White because of her hatred of Coach McCallie, and that White didn’t fire her when he had a chance during the internal investigation and ultimately gave her an extension. That apparently carries over to family members.
You made/implied a claim that Auriemma is abusive and don't want to back off of it. pretty simple. No need to go hunting for nuance to save face.
I’m not a Duke fan. I occasionally post here , but I do watch a lot of triangle women’s basketball and one of my best friends is a passionate Duke women’s basketball fan and Duke alumna
Other than potential alumni ties, it feels to me that Kara Lawson is better situated at Duke than she would be at Tennessee.
Given the way Vanderbilt spending money I don’t think Tennessee is even gonna be the best program in their own state, and that’s before you get to Texas, South Carolina, and LSU. Other than maybe North Carolina Louisville and I guess NC State although they seem a little bit on the downward trend who in the ACC is trying to compete in women’s basketball at the level of Duke? And I would argue that Duke probably has similar resources to all those schools and I’m not sure that’s gonna be the same for Tennessee in the SEC relative to their competition.
I understand it’s the nature of fan bases to worry and I have no inside information but I would be shocked if Lawson left and of course, right now the job isn’t even open
Other than potential alumni ties, it feels to me that Kara Lawson is better situated at Duke than she would be at Tennessee.
Given the way Vanderbilt spending money I don’t think Tennessee is even gonna be the best program in their own state, and that’s before you get to Texas, South Carolina, and LSU. Other than maybe North Carolina Louisville and I guess NC State although they seem a little bit on the downward trend who in the ACC is trying to compete in women’s basketball at the level of Duke? And I would argue that Duke probably has similar resources to all those schools and I’m not sure that’s gonna be the same for Tennessee in the SEC relative to their competition.
I understand it’s the nature of fan bases to worry and I have no inside information but I would be shocked if Lawson left and of course, right now the job isn’t even open
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Keep an eye on Clemson, who is bringing in a very strong recruiting class and had a successful season this year to build off.
You have
You have to break it down. Are you talking about the outfits or the behavior?
Good point and I might throw Virginia in there as well. Although obviously they probably will take a hit with a new coach.
TobyTobyToby
Member
True that Alleva was an even worse AD than Kevin White so Kevin White Sr passed a VERY low bar. AD White not only extended her contract when Duke finally investigated Coach JPM, but gave her multiple raises before that when he KNEW players and their families were extremely dissatisfied with her. He knew because players had gone out of their way to tell him with emails, letters and even personal appointments with him and the Duke President. There was no excuse for giving her contracts too high to buy out. He knew. Just like AD White Jr at Tennessee knows. They apparently are unable to judge character and have a familial tone deafness to player and family complaints. With the current transfer rules, the Tennessee players are able to give AD White Jr immediate feedback.
Note that the Tennessee AD is Danny White, not Kevin White Jr. (I'll admit that I thought, since I didn't bother checking, that it was the former NFL quarterback of the same name.) Four of his five children followed him into college athletics, three (including Danny) are ADs/asst. ADs, and one, Mike, is the head coach of the Georgia MBB team (formerly at Florida.)
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
I get that you don't like White because of WBB, but he did a very solid job at Duke, IMO. Let's start with hiring David Cutcliffe and giving him the support that he needed to bring back Duke football from the dead, as well as being at the helm for Duke LAX's championship only three years after the scandal. Add in the hire of Chris Pollard for our baseball team.
There's more to give thanks for as well, but mostly there's no question in my mind the overall success of Duke athletics as it is today would not be near as strong had he not laid a solid foundation for Nina King.
There's more to give thanks for as well, but mostly there's no question in my mind the overall success of Duke athletics as it is today would not be near as strong had he not laid a solid foundation for Nina King.
Phredd3
Member
He did a lot of positive things, for sure, but the magnitude of the failure in WBB was pretty bad. It wasn't an Alleva-lacrosse level scandal, but it wasn't far behind. Almost every single fan who was a close follower of Duke WBB at the time thought that the McCallie extension was a colossal blunder and sent a very bad message to the then-current players, who back then couldn't just up and leave without losing a year. Kevin White had serious blinders on when it came to Joanne P. McCallie. That extension set the women's program back by more than a decade, not just in terms of recruiting and results, but in terms of audience. A whole host of long-time season ticket holders abandoned the program after that, and the Cameron crowds grew ever more sparse. The program is still trying to catch up from that decision.
I'm happy to talk about Kevin White's successes, but the Women's Basketball thread really seems like the wrong place for that.
White then went to Notre Dame, where he had a similar mixed bag track record, one which was most notable [unfortunately] for his poor hiring decisions in their crown jewel of football. His first hire was George O'Leary, hired from GaTech to replace Bob Davie. Due to a poor background screening blunder, O'Leary lasted all of 5 days before he resigned when it was found that he had falsified elements of his résumé. White then hired Ty Willingham from Stanford, who had a promising start in year one that then devolved in a lack of effort on both the recruiting trail and in the locker room. Willingham was fired after three seasons, resulting in quite a bit of egg on the public face of the university (why didn't he get the full four years of a recruiting cycle was one big refrain). White then brought in Belichick disciple Charlie Weis, who came in with a bang having a similarly successful inaugural season, was rewarded with a 10-year contract extension, then proceeded on an equally similar bed-defecation trajectory. This time, the firing decision was made after year five, resulting in yet more egg on the public face (why was Weis given a big contract extension after year one and allowed to go to year 5 when Willingham was canned after year 3 was a big refrain), this time coupled with a large financial burden... Olympic sports thrived, and he did hire Mike Brey (that Duke connection worked relatively well for men's hoops), but an AD in South Bend is judged largely on the success of football and White's efforts there were sorely lacking...
TobyTobyToby
Member
Oops. Thx for fixing it.