Felisha Legette-Jack (born September 4, 1966) is the current head coach of the

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

's women basketball team. She previously served as the head coach at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, and

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

's women basketball teams.

Early life and education

Coming from a athletically gifted family, Legette-Jack first came to prominence at

Nottingham Senior High School William Nottingham High School is a public high school located at 3100 East Genesee Street in Syracuse, New York. Part of the Syracuse City School District, the high school has an enrollment of about 1350 students in grades 9–12. The school wa ...

in the mid 1980s. 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

. At Syracuse, Legette-Jack scored 1,526 points, grabbed 927 rebounds, and graduated as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in program history. 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. She was inducted into the Syracuse Hall of Fame in 1998. Syracuse University retired Legette-Jack's basketball jersey (#33) in November 2021. 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.

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 Marianna may refer to: * Marianna, Arkansas, USA * Marianna, Florida, USA * Marianna, Pennsylvania, USA * An English spelling for Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil * 602 Marianna, an asteroid, number 602 in the minor planet catalog * Marianna (given na ...

from 1993 to 2000. From 2002 to 2006, she served as the head coach at

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

Indiana University

In April 2006, Legette-Jack was hired at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. She was fired by IU Athletic Director Fred Glass on Monday, March 12, 2012. She was hired by

Athletic Director

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compass Media Networks' ...

on June 14, 2012, marking White's first coaching hire at UB.

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

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and

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. The 2016 tournament appearance was the first in program history. The 2018 appearance culminated in Buffalo's first run to the Sweet Sixteen in program history.

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

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. The USA team won all eight of their games, including the championship game against Serbia & Montenegro.

Crystal Langhorne Crystal Allison Langhorne (born October 27, 1986) is an American former basketball player of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the University of Maryland Terrapins. In 2008 she was drafted by the Washington Mysti ...

hit 77.5% of her field goal attempts, to lead the USA scorers with over 16 points per game.

Candice Wiggins Candice Dana Wiggins (born February 14, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. Wiggins played college basketball at Stanford University, where she graduated as the all-time leading scorer in Stanford and Pac-10 women's basket ...

was close behind with almost 16 points per game. The USA team was dominant, winning every game by more than 20 points.

Syracuse University

On March 26, 2022, Legette-Jack was officially announced as the head coach of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

which marked a return to her alma mater.

Head coaching record

Source:

References

External links