Felisha Legette-Jack

Felisha Legette-Jack (born September 4, 1966)[1] is the current head coach of the Syracuse University's women basketball team. She previously served as the head coach at the University at Buffalo, Indiana University, and Hofstra University's women basketball teams.

Felisha Legette-Jack
Legette-Jack in 2020.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamSyracuse
ConferenceACC
Record20–13 (.606)
Biographical details
Born (1966-09-04) September 4, 1966
Syracuse, New York
Playing career
1984–1989Syracuse
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1991Westhill Senior HS
1991–1993Boston College (asst.)
1993–2000Syracuse (asst.)
2000–2002Michigan State (asst.)
2002–2006Hofstra
2006–2012Indiana
2012–2022Buffalo
2022–presentSyracuse
Head coaching record
Overall362–289 (.556)
Tournaments2–2 (.500)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
CAA Coach of the Year (2004)
Medal record
Women’s Basketball
Assistant coach for  United States
FIBA Under-19 World Championship
Gold medal – first place2005 Tunis Team Competition

Early life and education

Coming from an athletically gifted family, Legette-Jack first came to prominence at Nottingham Senior High School in the mid 1980s.[2] Her brother, Ronnie, had led the Bulldogs to a state championship earlier, but Felisha went one better, leading the Lady Bulldogs to two state titles before going on to star at Syracuse University. At Syracuse, Legette-Jack scored 1,526 points, grabbed 927 rebounds, and graduated as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in program history.[3] As of 2021, she ranks fifth in scoring and third in rebounds. She was the 1985 Big East Rookie of the Year, and all-league player three times, and was the recipient of a LetterWinner of Distinction Award.[4]

She was inducted into the Syracuse Hall of Fame in 1998.[5] Syracuse University retired Legette-Jack's basketball jersey (#33) in November 2021.[6] She became the first women’s basketball player at Syracuse to have her number retired, and one of the first three female athletes to have their uniforms retired by the Orange.[7]

Coaching career

After graduating from Syracuse, Legette-Jack became an assistant coach for the Boston College Eagles women's basketball and then returned to Syracuse in similar role, working under Marianna Freeman from 1993 to 2000.[8]

From 2002 to 2006, she served as the head coach at Hofstra.[9]

Indiana University

In April 2006, Legette-Jack was hired at Indiana.[10] She was fired by IU Athletic Director Fred Glass on Monday, March 12, 2012.[11] She was hired by University at Buffalo Athletic Director Danny White on June 14, 2012, marking White's first coaching hire at UB.[12]

University at Buffalo

After being hired as the new women's basketball coach at Buffalo, Coach Legette-Jack made significant advances to the program. Under her leadership, Buffalo earned four trips to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022. The 2016 tournament appearance was the first in program history.[13] The 2018 appearance culminated in Buffalo's first run to the Sweet Sixteen in program history.[14]

USA Basketball

Legette-Jack served as an assistant coach of the U19 team representing the US at the 2005 FIBA Americas U19 Championship for Women in Tunis, Tunisia. The USA team won all eight of their games, including the championship game against Serbia & Montenegro. Crystal Langhorne hit 77.5% of her field goal attempts, to lead the USA scorers with over 16 points per game. Candice Wiggins was close behind with almost 16 points per game. The USA team was dominant, winning every game by more than 20 points.[15]

Syracuse University

On March 26, 2022, Legette-Jack was officially announced as the head coach of Syracuse which marked a return to her alma mater.[9][14][16][17]

Head coaching record

Source:[1]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Hofstra Pride (Colonial Athletic Association) (2002–2006)
2002–03 Hofstra 8–214–149th
2003–04 Hofstra 14–1411–7T–2nd
2004–05 Hofstra 13–167–117th
2005–06 Hofstra 19–1212–64thWNIT Second Round
Hofstra: 54–63 (.462)34–38 (.472)
Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten Conference) (2006–2012)
2006–07 Indiana 19–146–10T–8thWNIT Third Round
2007–08 Indiana 18–1510–8T–5thWNIT Second Round
2008–09 Indiana 21–1111–7T–5thWNIT Quarterfinal
2009–10 Indiana 14–167–11T–8th
2010–11 Indiana 9–203–1310th
2011–12 Indiana 6–241–1511th
Indiana: 87–100 (.465)39–64 (.379)
Buffalo Bulls (Mid-American Conference) (2012–2022)
2012–13 Buffalo 12–208–84th (East)
2013–14 Buffalo 17–1310–83rd (East)
2014–15 Buffalo 19–1311–73rd (East)WNIT First Round
2015–16 Buffalo 20–148–103rd (East)NCAA First Round
2016–17 Buffalo 22–1010–83rd (East)
2017–18 Buffalo 29–616–21st (East)NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2018–19 Buffalo 23–912–63rd (East)NCAA Second Round
2019–20 Buffalo 19–129–93rd (East)Post-season canceled due to COVID-19
2020–21 Buffalo 15–911–64th (East)
2021–22 Buffalo 25–816–42ndNCAA First Round
Buffalo: 201–114 (.638)111–68 (.620)
Syracuse Orange (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23 Syracuse 20–139–99thWNIT Third Round
Syracuse: 20–13 (.606)9–9 (.500)
Total:362–290 (.555)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 23 Sep 2015.
  2. Ditota, Donna (October 10, 2018). "Felisha Legette-Jack making most of 2nd chance many women coaches don't get". The Post-Standard. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  3. Eyle, Alexandra (1 January 1996). "A Quarter Century of Competition: Syracuse University Women's Athletics". Syracuse University Magazine. 13 (2): 14. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. "Five Outstanding Alumni to Be Honored During Coming Back Together 2021". Syracuse University News. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  5. Syracuse Hall of Fame page
  6. Lenzi, Rachel (August 11, 2021). "Syracuse to retire Felisha Legette-Jack's women's basketball jersey". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  7. Alandt, Anthony (11 November 2021). "Retiring Felisha Legette-Jack's jersey opens door for more women to be recognized". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  8. Boccacino, John (29 March 2022). "'I Am Home!': Felisha Legette-Jack '89 Excited to Lead Women's Basketball Program". Syracuse University News. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  9. Alandt, Anthony (26 March 2022). "Felisha Legette-Jack announced as new Syracuse women's basketball head coach". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  10. "Indiana Names Felisha Legette-Jack Head Women's Basketball Coach". Indiana University Athletics (Press release). April 19, 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  11. Stuzman, Trent. "Felisha Legette-Jack fired". Indiana Daily Student. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  12. Harris, Jay. "Legette-Jack named head women's basketball coach". WIVB.com News Channel 4. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  13. "Bulls headed to NCAA tournaments". UBNow. University at Buffalo. March 13, 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. Duke, Adam (26 March 2022). "Felisha Legette-Jack hired as new Syracuse women's basketball coach". WIVB-TV. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  15. "SIXTH FIBA WOMEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - 2005". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  16. "Legette-Jack Returns Home to Lead the Orange". Syracuse University Athletics (Press release). 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  17. Jackson, Wilton (26 March 2022). "Syracuse Hires Program Legend As New Women's Basketball Coach". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 March 2022.


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