What's the best lesson Duke women's basketball coach Kara Lawson learned from mentor Pat Summitt?

Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson has become nearly as well known for her viral inspirational speeches as her basketball savvy.

Whether it's a thoughtful discussion of the differences between hard work and competitiveness, the idea of confidence and validation coming from within or the fact that life doesn't get easier, we just learn to handle hard better, Lawson's guru status grows with every clip.

It's sensible that she would have picked up some wisdom in her years and years of winning. From a pair of high school state championships in Virginia to Final Fours with coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee, to a WNBA championship and gold medals as a player and coach, Lawson finds her way to success often.

Entering her third season at Duke with Monday's season opener against NC A&T (11 a.m. ET, ACCNX), she's gotten the Blue Devils back into the Top 25 rankings and coached up Shayeann Day-Wilson to becoming the ACC Freshman of the Year while compiling a 17-13 record after sitting out of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Seemingly able to spout off life lessons at any moment, Lawson has lured a 2022 recruiting class ranked No. 9 in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. That's tops in the ACC and one spot behind reigning national champion South Carolina, coached by Lawson's former WNBA opponent Dawn Staley.

Those who do choose to play for Lawson at Duke are in for more than just hoops.

Having learned from one of basketball's great minds as a Lady Vol, Lawson clings to a piece of wisdom she gleaned from her experiences with Summitt some two decades ago.

"The biggest lesson that I still use today is holding players accountable to what their best is," Lawson said of her most valuable takeaway from her time at Tennessee.

"When you’re a young player, you feel like the coach is on you and they’re challenging you so much, some days it feels unattainable, what they’re asking you to do. But it really is what you’re able to do, you just have to be pushed to that consistently.

"What Coach Summitt taught me was if you do that as a coach long enough and you push someone long enough to that standard, then a funny thing happens: That player no longer needs someone to push them to that standard; they’re able to do it themselves."

Another revelation unfolds as Lawson speaks easily about the challenges of striving to be your best. She took Summitt's guidance into her life after college and she's managed to shape it into a tool for her own growth as a leader.

"That’s the main thing that I took from her and I know that it works because it worked for me," Lawson said.

"I was pushed to a standard that, at times, felt unattainable. But once I graduated from there, I knew how to do it myself and that gave me such an advantage in life, because I knew how to push myself and I knew that I wasn’t going to accept anything less than my best. And because I wasn’t going to, that’s enabled me, in my life, post-college, to achieve some pretty incredible things ... because of learning that singular skill."

Summitt's inspiration thrives in Lawson's system. And it doesn't end there.

Lawson is such a firm believer in her mentor's lesson that she wants to see it passed along to influence future generations, keeping Summitt's spirit alive in a challenge of accountability.

"The end goal is to hold players accountable, hold them to the standard. And then over time — hopefully it’s less than four years, because that’s all I have them for — they have the ability to do it themselves and then they’re able to go off in life and challenge people and hold them to a standard and then those people eventually are able to do it themselves," Lawson said.

"It lives on.

"It lives on and it continues to grow and it continues to have an impact on younger generations."

Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: The best advice Duke coach Kara Lawson learned from Pat Summitt?