ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 24, 2023

Kara Lawson

Kennedy Brown

Reigan Richardson

Duke Blue Devils

Women's Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get things going. Here with Duke, Kara Lawson in her fourth year with Duke, as well as Reigan Richardson, as well as Kennedy Brown.

Go over a couple things for your season and last year, one of the most impressive seasons in recent history. I was looking at why that was. It was finishing 26-7 overall record. For you, what I've learned is, like, last year is last year. How can we build in this season, especially with faces on the roster? Anything you're excited about? What has to be different in order to see different results for your squad this season?

KARA LAWSON: Well, you're right, every year's a new year. We talk about it like you don't carry over any wins. It's also good you don't carry over any losses. That's why you start where you start.

The exciting thing, when you coach and you get an opportunity to coach players like Reigan and Kennedy, is every year that they grow, there's more that's expected of them. They're capable of doing that. So the exciting thing for me has been watching them grow.

Their voices are more prominent now in practices. They have more of an influence on our team offensively and defensively. They both had great influence last year, not to diminish the influence they had last year, but they have more influence this year. That's fun to watch.

There's other players on our roster that I can say the same thing about. Ashlon Jackson, a sophomore, was our only freshman in our rotation last year. This year she has more of a voice, more of an influence. That's what it's about.

When you come in as a freshman, you're just trying to get it figured out, trying to do the right things, then you're not the freshman any more so now you have to take more of a leadership role. That's been fun to see from our players, from our veteran players here early in the season.

Q. Reigan, your career, how you've had to be different and grow, answer the bell each year, what steps would you say you've made in order to make this program even more elite?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: I feel like for me, I'm working really hard on becoming, like, that vocal leader. I feel I do pretty well leading by example. Being put in that position to lead vocally is uncomfortable and challenging. I feel like when I can get that down, I can be unstoppable on the court and off.

Q. Kennedy, how about you?

KENNEDY BROWN: A little bit of the same thing. Last year being my first year in this program, I didn't feel like I could use my voice as much. This year, being my second year, being one of the most seasoned players on our team, really trying to use my knowledge to help them, and my experiences, giving them that knowledge so that they can learn from it now versus later on.

Using my voice on the court as well as off to just help guide them and be a facilitator for our team as well as a leader.

Q. Coach, going back to the makeup of this team, you did mention new faces. I know you have two starters returning from last year, but welcoming six new players to your roster. What are you excited about on what this group can be? Is there any player that you think can really make a splash in this league right out of the gate?

KARA LAWSON: Well, one of the exciting things is that there is so much new. I think we're still figuring it out in terms of where we can be more effective as a team, how we can be most effective as a team on both ends, where our strengths are.

Still developing that chemistry together, as well. So we have a lot of athleticism on this roster, a lot of speed, a lot of length. I think those are traits that we need to use to our advantage. That's my job to figure out how to best do that.

We have a top-five freshman, top-five recruiting class in the country. They're really talented, really athletic. All of them have come in and made a difference in our practices and do a lot of positive things.

It's on all of us to help get them ready for this league because this league is an experienced league. It's really hard. I'm sure Kennedy and Reigan remember their freshman year. It's challenging to be able to be consistent. That's what we're working toward with them.

But they're all really good. They're all going to help us this year.

Q. I want to go to the players in that sense. When you're saying it's challenging to be consistent, what are a few ways as leaders of this team you want to make sure that is instilled in a team?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: I feel like for me specifically, I feel like if I can bring that effort and just being able to communicate every day in practice, I feel like my teammates can feed off that kind of energy and it can just boost up the whole team, as well.

KENNEDY BROWN: Yeah, I think setting the standard for our practices every single day. We emphasize like when you step on the court, you give everything you have every single time. I think when that becomes a habit, you become consistent. You work on that and build on that every single day.

Like Reigan said, just hustle plays, being competitive, pushing one another every single day is going to help us grow and build.

Q. Some people would hear hustle plays are like communicating and think offense. I know for this squad and program, it really starts on the defensive end. End of the season ranked second in scoring defense, ninth in field goal percentage defense, tenth in block. How do you carry that over in a sense?

KARA LAWSON: Well, it really starts with these two on the defensive end for us. I would say that was true last year, as well.

I say this a lot in our group about these two. Last year, if you were to pause the film at any point when we were on defense, these two were in the right places more than anybody else in terms of where they were supposed to be from a scheme perspective.

By and large, they were doing what they were supposed to be doing while they were in the right place. So that's how you teach the younger players, is every day, most of the time (smiling), they're in the right place and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. The younger players see that.

Now they've talked about it. Now their challenge is not to be in the right place but get other people in the right place, using their voice to get other people in the right place.

They're both as sound technically as defenders you'll find in our league. So that's a great place to start. There's a player that plays on the perimeter, a players that plays on the interior. Every single one of our freshmen has somebody to look at that's doing the right thing instead of having nobody that's doing the right thing and having to teach everybody at the same time.

That's been particularly valuable for me as a coach to have these two. I'm lucky to have the chance to coach 'em because I don't have to say it all the time. They see it.

So thank y'all. Keep doing that.

Q. Your schedule, your non-conference schedule, is one of the best I've seen in this league. Road trip to Stanford as well as South Carolina for the Jimmy V Women's Classic. You have the exhibition against the USA women's basketball team, the national team.

KARA LAWSON: That will be easy (smiling).

Q. That's a cakewalk, right?

KARA LAWSON: Yeah.

Q. Setting that up, the importance of being challenged in that way in this schedule...

KARA LAWSON: Listen, we're not going to play a better team all year than on November 12th. They're unbelievable. We talked about it as a team, what an incredible opportunity for us to get to play against the U.S. Women's National Team, that level of play, that level of execution, and be challenged. That will set us up, we think, to play against that type of competition.

Certainly since I've been here, we're going to challenge ourselves and play some of the top teams from other leagues. Every year we've done that since I've been here. We're going to continue to do that.

We want to put them in environments where they're going to be tested. Maybe they succeed, maybe they fail. Going into the ACC play, they will be prepared. They will have been in tough road environments. They will have had a tough team come into Cameron.

I thought that was tough for us last year. We went to some tough road environments in the non-conference, were able to come out with wins. That started I think to give us confidence as a group of what we could be, that we could pull together.

When you get in league play, every road game is challenging. We'll have that in the non-conference, and hopefully we can build a similar type of road toughness that we did a season ago.

Q. For you two, when you look at the schedule, each game is important, but anything that you have circled that this is going to be a challenge that I hope we step up to?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: Yeah, like coach said, our non-conference is tough, but it's going to prepare us going into the conference.

KENNEDY BROWN: I mean, you obviously mentioned the three headliners, I think. Honestly, I think just building off each game and taking it one game at a time and learning from each one is super important for us.

I think playing at Stanford will be a great environment to kind of test the waters a little bit. We play in similar environments in the ACC, so...

Q. Coach, can you discuss the culture and values you aim to instill in the program both on and off the court to create a successful and cohesive team?

KARA LAWSON: I would say I try to instill accountability, for sure, with our players. There's an expectation when they come in the gym every day of the type of effort and focus, discipline they're going to bring. That's required.

If they fall short of that, then they have to be accountable to falling short of that and try and rectify it immediately, right, as quickly as possible.

If you think about that, that's really hard to do, just to be consistent. You wake up every day, and if there's things you need to do, you have to be focused and disciplined to do them, whatever it is. It's hard to do it every day.

I would say accountability, for sure. Our program is a big value that we preach. Also team, togetherness, the way we play. We're interdependent on one another. Reigan needs Kennedy to have success, and Kennedy needs Reigan. We talk about that, how there's a need for each other. You should be willing and able to help each other get there because the better Reigan plays, the better Kennedy plays, and vice versa.

We try to instill that, as well, that togetherness and that closeness and chemistry. I believe that that matters. I believe that that helps you win games.

I would say those two things are things that stick out. I don't know what they would say.

Did I miss? I probably missed?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: You hit it right on the nail.

KARA LAWSON: You don't want to talk any more, that's why you say that (laughter).

Q. We know how you show up and you have the goal of being great for your university, but also for yourself. What is your inspiration? How do you dig within yourself and say, I'm doing this because of what?

REIGAN RICHARDSON: I feel like for me, just having great people around me like coach and the coaching staff. As much as they put into me, I want to be able to show them that I've taken what they've given me and improved on the court, whether it's on and off the court.

For me, I've been working on, like, mental toughness. Each and every one of my coaches have all been telling me you have to be mentally tough in order to play this game, as well as my family.

Since last season, it was a roller coaster, but this season I feel like working on my mental toughness is going to improve. I feel like it's going to help me on the court.

Q. Kennedy?

KENNEDY BROWN: Coach mentioned this to us before, but proving people right. I think that's something that really stuck with me. There's been a lot of people along the way on this journey that I've been on. Being able to give back to them in a way I think is super important to me. Also just inspiring younger generations every time I step on the court, especially young girls who want to play sports in college, as well.

Being able to be that role model for them...

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you so much for your time.