ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 11, 2022

Kara Lawson

Reigan Richardson

Celeste Taylor

Duke Blue Devils

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: I'm joined by head coach Kara Lawson in your second season at Duke, and you're joined by two of your stand-out players in Reigan Richardson and Celeste Taylor.

We were kind of like goofing around right before you came up here you said, we've got a little bit of unfinished business to take care of.

But when you're looking at what you have season and the pieces you're getting back from injury, what does it look like for this Blue Devil team?

KARA LAWSON: I think the thing that stands out about our group -- and, again, we're only through the first couple weeks of practice -- but I think we are deeper than we were a year ago.

I think we have more size, and I think we have more athleticism. So those are all good things for our group.

I think we also have a lot of multiple two-way players. Players that can guard, that are versatile defensively, that can guard a number of positions, but then also offensively can put pressure on defenses.

Hopefully that translates to a good start to the season for us.

THE MODERATOR: And you were just mentioning three things. You said you had the depth. That's the biggest thing for this group as well, and I know that's important to you.

But even when you're looking at the freshmen and how they've been able to step up in this role, I know that even with Day-Wilson, she's not here, but the depth you have with her and how she can grow from even last season being named the freshman of the year. What have you seen from her in that jump in just that one off-season?

KARA LAWSON: It's a challenge to be a freshman point guard in this league, and I thought Shy did a good job of managing that responsibility because you have to make sure we get in our offenses. You have to try to play make, to score, and get in position. There's so many good players in this league at that spot.

She's continuing to grow and mature, and now that she's in her sophomore year, there's not as many firsts, and she's been around the league one time, and I think that will help her in her sophomore year.

THE MODERATOR: From one great sophomore to the next, we have Reigan and what you've been able to accomplish last season, but what's the most important thing for you to make sure how you impact the team? What stands out to you and what that looks like for your role?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: Mainly for me, I just want to stay confident. Stay confident in myself. For me, I'm hard on myself, and that's what I'm trying to work on and not be so hard on myself, because I tend to mess up and stuff like that.

So just staying confident and keeping my effort at 100 percent, even more, that's what I want to do.

THE MODERATOR: We were joking. You're doing something right if you're at media day, so you can smile a little bit. You're definitely putting in the work.

You talked about staying confident, but is there any aspect of your game you feel like you can build on and add a little bit something different to your bag?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: There's always something you can build on. I feel like every day I work with the coaches and everything, ball handling, stretching my range, working on mid-range, it's the little things I'm trying to work on just to get my game to the next level.

THE MODERATOR: And then Celeste being a senior and just understanding what it takes to win, you've seen it at different angles, even coming in at Duke. So what's important to you? What are a couple of the priorities for you to understand? When you told me we've got unfinished business, what are a few things that are very important for you guys to solidify?

CELESTE TAYLOR: I think for us as a group in general, it's just being able to compete every single day and get after it, being consistent, because I know sometimes it's hard. Some days people have bad days. People have good days. But just be able to lean on each other and know that we're sisters and we have each other's backs when somebody's down to be able to pick them back up. And just being consistent and competing.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, it seems like they got the message, handle hard better. Do you think?

KARA LAWSON: I don't know. I don't know if they listen to me when I'm talking to them. But I will say about, not just these two, but our entire group to this point this year, they have come in with a great maturity, with a great work ethic, and trying to do what we're asking them to do on both ends of the floor.

So I enjoy coming into practice every day and working with them. They want to learn. They want to get better. We have a good amount of cohesion already just in the short time frame.

Our goal is to keep building on that, and hopefully by the first game we'll be ready to have a good effort.

THE MODERATOR: Absolutely. The games come in hot because your non-conference schedule is definitely spectacular. You're looking at Portland, Oregon in that PK Legacy; UConn in November; and you also have either Iowa or Oregon State as well.

So just being challenged right out of the gate, is there anything in particular you're looking for from your team at that point?

KARA LAWSON: Well, we're going to challenge ourselves in a non-conference. I think it's the best way to prepare for the ACC. The ACC is the toughest conference in the country, I think, this season.

So in order to prepare for that, you have to play other challenging teams. So we're going to be tested. And any number of our games, we're going into some challenging road environments as well in our non-conference.

We want to see where we are. We don't want to wake up in January and see where we are for the first time. We want to know in November and December and see where we are, where we can improve, and hopefully win some of those as well.

THE MODERATOR: You're looking at your roster, and the makeup is you have nine letter winners returning to your squad as well. How important is that? You mentioned there hasn't been any issues with cohesion. How important is that? And even the four new faces you have to your roster, what does that look like as far as where they find and fit in at this point?

KARA LAWSON: You certainly look to your players that have been in your program before to show the way in a lot of respects. It could be something as simple as a drill that they know how it goes, so they can show the way.

We have a mix of newcomers. We have newcomers with great collegiate experience, and then we have freshmen. So I think all of our returning players have done a great job of welcoming them, of teaching them, of showing them how we do things. Then I think they're doing a great job of bringing what they bring.

We don't want anybody to shrink from who they are and what they can bring to our team. We want everybody's best stuff.

I think you have to have a group that's open to sharing success. That's really important in a team sport. Like you have to be able to be okay with someone else getting shine, be okay with someone else having success, and know that it's not a zero sum game.

It's not like if Celeste experiences success then Reigan won't, or because Celeste is experiencing success Reigan can't. Right?

There's an opportunity for our entire team to have success and to reap the benefits of being on a good team, and the way you all share in that is you win. When you win, everybody feels good about what you're doing.

THE MODERATOR: Then just feeling good about even going into this next season, I'll start with you. What have you seen in the few practices that you have had that gives you the confidence that you guys continue to build and really be a contender for the title?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: Just us competing with each other every day, making each other better. I feel like that's something we have an advantage on just because we make each other better, and we're not here to just do what -- we're not here being selfish, per se.

We're just here to make each other better and to see each other improve.

THE MODERATOR: Celeste, for you, what does that look like, just kind of keeping everybody on the same page? I know it's probably easier said than done, but understanding what the goal is for you guys, what are you hoping to see right out of the gate from this group?

CELESTE TAYLOR: I mean similarly to Reigan, I think we have a really good mindset. I think all the players on the team, they want to win, and when you have teammates that want to win just as bad as you do, it makes things a lot easier.

They're willing to do the little things. They're willing to do whatever it is that they need -- that needs to be done in order for us to win.

And when you have players and teammates and coaches who are willing to give everything that they can in order to make sure you are successful and that the team is successful and that you get the job done, it's just a great feeling, and it just makes it even more better and just a place that you want to be and something you want to be a part of.

THE MODERATOR: I am going to open it up to the audience if anyone has a question. We do have one right here in the second row. If you can just say your name and your affiliation.

Q. Coach Lawson, you had a video come out a few weeks ago on the Duke basketball page about wanting the easy way in life and praising the struggle going through adversity. Can you elaborate on what that message was to the team and how did they take it?

KARA LAWSON: The message was just having an understanding that you're going to face different obstacles, and it's really how you handle them and training yourself to handle adversities better.

I think all of us, not just up here, all of us in this room face things daily in our personal lives and our professional lives that are challenging. My goal for my players, which I tell them a lot, is like to prepare them for after they're done playing for me.

I only have them four years. I don't have them a long period of time. So when your time with someone is short, your time day to day with someone is short, it's really, really important that you give freely, you give everything that you have to give to them so that they can be successful.

So I have an understanding of that because every year there's players who are with me that are no longer with me because they graduate and they go on to win their lives.

So I want to impact them as young women as much as I can. If there's something that I feel that is important to share with them that can help them down the road, then I'm going to do that.

Q. I was wondering with if Coach Staley's stance on not playing BYU, how has that positively impacted your team? And just the positive impact and the sisterhood amongst that relationship.

KARA LAWSON: Well, I can't speak to that decision specifically. Obviously we are really supportive of our Duke volleyball players. It obviously affected our school first before it affecting anything at another school. It was an issue between our players and the crowd there.

So I think what we've done as a group is to support our volleyball team to the best of our ability and to make sure they know we're there for them. Our players had relationships with the volleyball players before the unfortunate incident.

To be honest, I'm not trying to avoid your question, but our focus has been on Duke and has been on the young women on our campus that were adversely affected by that incident.

THE MODERATOR: I wanted to go into a lighter note a little bit. Congratulations. I'm just looking at with Chelsea Gray and then winning the gold with the FIBA team is pretty awesome. Just what that meant to you and then obviously being able to share in that with another Duke alum.

KARA LAWSON: It was a special experience to have the opportunity to coach for the national team and work with great players. And as you mentioned, Chelsea is having a heck of a year. She's on one right now. She is the best point guard in the world, and she is proving that in every arena. Just coming up big in every clutch situation, it feels like, the last 12 months.

It was great to work with her up close every day and see how much that she puts into the game. It doesn't surprise me at all, because to be at that level you have to have a great commitment to the game. She plays the game with a great level of intelligence and has a great understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of her teammates and has become an outstanding leader as well.

So we're very proud to call her an alum. She supports us obviously. She's come back every year that I've been a coach to visit with our players and to support them. I'm sure we'll see her this year at some point.

THE MODERATOR: I mean, her jersey's in the rafters. She has to come back at this point. She's been doing an incredible job.

KARA LAWSON: She is. She's doing an incredible job. I don't think she's done yet. I think there's quite a few more years left for Chelsea.

THE MODERATOR: When you're going into this season, this third season with Duke, is there anything that you've altered or changed as far as your philosophy and what you're taking to build this group into a championship contending team?

KARA LAWSON: I wouldn't say I had a philosophical change. I think it's more we hope to piggy-back off of what Celeste said. We hope to be more consistent in meeting our standard. We want to be a better defensive team than we were a year ago. We want to be more disruptive. We want to be more complete offensively.

So you just try to be more consistent in those areas, more so than saying we've got to change things or upset the apple cart. We just want to be more consistent, and hopefully that will translate to more wins for us.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much for your time. Ladies, good luck this season. Coach, as always, it's good to see you.