BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Duke basketball. It’s one of the sport’s biggest brands. It’s referred to by former and current men’s players as “The Brotherhood.” This season, Duke’s women’s team embraced the moniker “The Sisterhood,” even wearing it as a logo on their warm-ups.
That sisterhood has been on full display in March Madness.
“Family,” junior guard Ashlon Jackson said ahead of No. 2 Duke’s Elite Eight game against No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday. “We’re united within anything and everything we do. It’s always ‘We before me.’”
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Head coach Kara Lawson’s team returned all 10 players with remaining eligibility, a rarity in the transfer-portal era.
Of course Lawson, like all coaches in today’s game, had to work to “re-recruit” her roster.
But each player made the decision on her own. Factoring in was the belief the players had in each other as well as in Lawson and her staff.
“There was never a conversation,” Jackson said. “We just love each other. We’re always together, whether that’s on or off the court. I could never fake this. This is really a family, a sisterhood.”
The leaders of The Sisterhood and The Brotherhood are very well-connected, like their teams.
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“We’re texting each other every day through this run – just words of support,” Lawson said of Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer.
It’s the first time since 2013 that the Duke men’s and women’s team both advanced to at least the Elite Eight.
Lawson took over the women’s team in July 2020, after Joanne P. McCallie stepped down after 13 seasons. McCallie went 330-107 during her Duke tenure, winning the ACC Coach of the Year award three times and leading the Blue Devils to four consecutive Elite Eights. Although the program is still seeking its first national championship, the bar was high for Lawson.
Scheyer can relate.
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Scheyer played for legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke from 2006-10, helping the Blue Devils win the national championship in 2010. After a brief professional playing career, Scheyer returned in 2013 as an assistant on Krzyzewski’s staff.
In June 2021, the school announced that Scheyer would succeed “Coach K,” who led his Duke teams to five national championships. In April 2022, Scheyer officially took over.
Lawson said Scheyer was taking steps to prepare for the job before he even knew he had it. Part of that process was asking Lawson questions about her experience becoming a head coach at Duke.
They spent early mornings in the weight room when he was still an assistant and she was new to Duke. They talked about basketball, of course, and Lawson asked Scheyer questions, hoping to gain more familiarity with her new home.
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“It was very easy to see that Jon was very prepared, very sharp, in-tune with what was going on,” Lawson said.
The coaches of Duke basketball were back in the weight room prior to the Sweet 16.
They’re leading The Brotherhood and, now, The Sisterhood through a new era with a familiar Blue Devils outcome – going deep in the NCAA Tournament.
Wesley Branch is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Duke basketball teams embrace family in March Madness runs
