Courtside in Cameron, A Duke Professor Finds Community

A math professor finds belonging – and Blue Devil pride – through women’s basketball

Duke women's basketball coach Kara Lawson points on the sideline
Duke women's basketball coach Kara Lawson once told her team to "handle 'hard' better," and a Duke Assistant Research Professor of Mathematics took the advice to heart. Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics

Ranthony Clark once dreamed of playing basketball at Duke. But life happened, her ambitions shifted, and in 2024, Clark came to Duke not as an athlete but as an Assistant Research Professor of Mathematics.

Still, the echoes of her former aspirations dogged her as she settled into life in Durham. She thought about the first time she met Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson as a teenager when she attended a summer basketball camp at the University of Tennessee while Lawson played there.

And that led her to reflect on a viral motivational speech she watched online that Lawson, the current USA Basketball Women's National Team coach and a former Olympic and WNBA champion, once gave to her Blue Devils team.

“We all wait in life for things to get easier,” Lawson said in the video seen more than 8 million times. “It’s what we do. … it’ll never get easier. What happens is you handle ‘hard’ better.”

Inspired by Lawson’s words, Clark began tackling the hard part of relocation by planting some roots for the first time in her professional career. She purchased Duke women’s basketball season tickets, which are offered at a discount to Duke staff and faculty. She sprung for two seats to encourage herself to invite colleagues.

a man and woman stand with Duke women's basketball coach Kara Lawson, at center
Ranthony Clark, right, met Kara Lawson, center, with her father, left, during a post-game women's basketball mingle. Photo courtesy of Ranthony Clark

She even upgraded to courtside seats last season, where her out-of-town family often spots her wearing her light-up blue devil horns when they watch games on television.

“I decided I’m just going to try to do the work of creating community here,” Clark said. “And a big part of that community has centered around women’s basketball games.”

And she began attending post-game “mingles” offered by the women’s basketball team after each home game. Mingles were instituted by Lawson in 2022 as a way for Blue Devil players to interact with the fans who are often difficult to individualize among a crowd. The eight-minute meet-and-greets happen after every home game, win or lose.

“If we were going to simplify it, it's called creating connection,” said Lawson, who joined Duke in 2020. “How do you create connection with another human? Well, you have to do it by interaction. It's pretty hard to create connection if you never interface with somebody else. 

“Our goal is to create as many connections as possible across the campus, across the city, across the Triangle, across the state, across the nation.”

Clark met Lawson (again) at one of those post-game mingles following a come-from-behind Blue Devils’ victory. The coach shared that her halftime speech emphasized the importance of sticking to the game plan, a message that resonated with Clark as she pursued success in her new research role at Duke.

“I feel like she speaks in wisdom,” Clark said. “Not only about her team, but for me, personally.”

For information on Duke women's basketball tickets, including discount season tickets, call (919) 681-BLUE.

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