COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (May 6, 2025) – USA Basketball announced today that Kara Lawson (Duke University) will coach the 2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team, which is set to compete at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup June 28 – July 6 in Santiago, Chile. Lawson will be assisted by DeLisha Milton-Jones (Old Dominion University) and Jennie Baranczyk (University of Oklahoma). The coaches were selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee.
Lawson, Milton-Jones and Baranczyk each have previous USA Basketball coaching experience, while Lawson and Milton-Jones have additionally earned multiple gold medals as players for the red, white and blue.
Lawson carries a myriad of previous coaching experience with USA Basketball, most notably winning gold medals as an assistant coach at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and as head coach with the inaugural U.S. Olympic 3x3 Women's Basketball Team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Lawson’s coaching resume includes nine gold medals and a 75-5 (.938) overall record with USA Basketball. In addition to her Olympic coaching success, she won gold medals at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup, 2019 and 2017 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cups, 2019 Pan American Games (3x3) and 2018 Youth Olympic Games (3x3).
Lawson began her USA Basketball career as an athlete in 1998, winning the bronze medal at the World Youth Games. Through her tenure as a player, Lawson captured gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and the 2001 World University Games.
Lawson has been the head coach at Duke University since July 2020. During the 2024-25 season, she led the Blue Devils to a 29-8 record – the program’s most wins in over a decade – and an Elite Eight appearance. Prior to arriving in Durham, North Carolina, Lawson was an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics for the 2019-20 season.
“I'm incredibly honored to be named the 2025 Women's AmeriCup Head Coach by USA Basketball,” Lawson said. “The opportunity to work with some of the top players in the country, and the opportunity to coach alongside some of the top coaches in the country is something that I'm very excited about. I always look forward to serving USA Basketball in any capacity that I am asked.
“It's such a gift. It's a gift that has given me so much over the years as a player, as a committee member and as a coach. I've always tried to compete and give my best in the different roles that I've been given. That won't change this summer. The goal is to put together a competitive team, one that represents all the standards that we hold dear to us. The number one standard being excellence. I'm eagerly anticipating the journey together as we chase another gold medal for the United States.”
Milton-Jones will assume her third USA Basketball assistant coaching assignment after having served in the role at the 2023 FIBA Women's U19 World Cup and 2022 FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship.
Milton-Jones, the women’s basketball head coach at Old Dominion, also served as a court coach at the 2019 Women's U19 and Pan American Games trials. As a player, she captured six gold medals and earned five international tournament titles for the USA, including at the 2008 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Baranczyk will undertake her first USA Basketball assistant coaching assignment after having served as a court coach for the 2023 and 2017 USA Women's U19 National Team Trials.
Baranczyk recently completed her fourth season at the helm at the University of Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to a 27-8 record and a NCAA Tournament berth for the fourth consecutive year in the program’s first season in the SEC. The 2024 Big 12 Coach of the Year spent nine seasons at Drake University before arriving in Oklahoma.
Since the event’s inception in 1993, the United States has captured four AmeriCup gold medals, including titles in 2019 and 2021.
In addition to the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Puerto Rico will participate in the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup. As previously announced by FIBA, the USA will open Group B with contests against Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
The 2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team will be announced following trials in June in Colorado Springs.
For more information about the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, click here.