Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Headed to the WNBA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball player Kara Lawson continues to make headlines well after the season has come to a close. Last month, the Alexandria, Va., native was chosen fifth in the first round of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft.
Lawson originally was picked by the Detroit Shock, under head coach and former Detroit Pistons player Bill Laimbeer. However, several days later, she was traded to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for league veteran and former University of Georgia player Kedra Holland-Corn and a 2004 second-round draft choice.
Lawson says she looks forward to starting her WNBA career.
Lawson completed her illustrious career at UT in 2003 by helping guide the Lady Vols to their 14th NCAA Final Four, 10th NCAA Championship game, a 33-5 record and the program’s sixth-consecutive Southeastern Conference title. The Kodak All-American is the school’s all-time leader in three-pointers made and the most proficient free throw shooter in UT history.
In the classroom, the finance major posted a 3.77 grade point average and was honored as the recipient of the SEC’s Postgraduate Award. The University of Tennessee also bestowed upon Lawson the highest honor available to an undergraduate by selecting her as a UT “Torchbearer.”
Most recently, she was selected as one of four student-athletes in the country to receive a National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors’ Cup Postgraduate Scholarship. The winners, selected from 220 nominees spanning NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), will each receive a $5,000 grant to put toward their postgraduate studies.
In its April 10th edition, Black Issues selected Lawson as its top female student-athlete for 2003.
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