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Syracuse announced Saturday that it hired Felisha Legette-Jack as its next head coach. After becoming the first female athlete to have her number retired at SU, Legette-Jack will now take the helm for the Orange following a tumultuous two seasons.

“I’m coming home! These words bring me great joy,” Legette-Jack said in the announcement.

Legette-Jack publicly expressed interest in returning to her alma mater after former head coach Quentin Hillsman resigned, telling syracuse.com in August that Syracuse is her “home.” But SU opted to promote Vonn Read to acting head coach, a position he held for the 2021-22 campaign. Legette-Jack finished the season with Buffalo, and when asked about the Syracuse job following the Bulls’ loss in the NCAA Tournament, she said “Buffalo is her job.”

Legette-Jack returns to Syracuse after an illustrious playing career for the Orange in which she scored 1,526 points, notched 927 rebounds, finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, and also won Big East Freshman of the Year in 1985. The Nottingham High School graduate came to SU, a place she said she could see up the hill from her childhood home. 

“She is a builder of programs, evidenced by the success she had at the University at Buffalo,” Director of Athletics John Wildhack said. “She is totally committed to the full development of every student-athlete and staff member who is part of her program.”

Felisha Legette-Jack starred at Syracuse in the late 1980s, graduating as the program’s leader in points and rebounds. Courtesy of SU Athletics

After leaving Syracuse, Legette-Jack coached at Boston College as an assistant before returning to SU for a similar role. She then went on to be the head coach at Hofstra, Indiana and Buffalo, where she compiled a record of 343-279 and earned NCAA Tournament bids four times with the Bulls. Buffalo finished 25-9 this season and second in the Mid-American Conference.

Published on March 26, 2022 at 3:25 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt