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Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday. Legette-Jack is the third SU women’s basketball coach to win conference coach of the year, joining Barbara Jacobs (1997-98) and Quentin Hillsman (2007-08).

In her second year with SU, Legette-Jack has helped turn around her alma mater, tying its regular season record for wins (23). In the preseason, the Orange were picked to finish ninth in the ACC, but Legette-Jack led them to a third-place finish in the conference while gaining a double bye for the ACC tournament.

“I am grateful to be named the ACC Coach of the Year by my peers and the media,” Legette-Jack said in a statement released by Syracuse Athletics. “I am proud to represent my home and Syracuse University as our head coach. This award is a team award and is a direct reflection of the work our student-athletes, coaches and staff put in and I am humbled for us to be recognized.”

Legette-Jack played for Syracuse from 1984-89 and is one of three players in program history to record more than 1,000 points (1,526) and 900 rebounds (927). As a coach, Legette-Jack spent time as an assistant with SU from 1993-2000. She received her first head coaching job at Hofstra in 2002 before moving on to Indiana and later Buffalo. Legette-Jack helped turn the Bulls into a perennial mid-major power in the Mid-American Conference, appearing in four NCAA Tournaments in 10 years including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2018.

“This is such an exciting and incredibly well-deserved recognition of Coach Jack’s transformation of the women’s basketball program at Syracuse,” Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack also said in the statement.

The moment @CuseCoachJack learned she was @ACCWBB Coach of the Year 🎉 pic.twitter.com/gDMqm1gAw6

— Syracuse Women's Basketball (@CuseWBB) March 5, 2024

In 2022, after an investigation and subsequent resignation of Hillsman, Legette-Jack expressed interest in returning to Syracuse. Vonn Reed spent a season as interim coach before Legette-Jack was hired in March 2022. In the first year under Legette-Jack, Syracuse won 17 regular season games and earned a bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament before falling to Columbia in the Super 16.

Legette-Jack’s second year has been different, leading the Orange to its most regular season wins since 2016. Behind the play of point guard Dyaisha Fair — who was announced as an All-ACC First Team selection — the Orange have competed with the top teams in the ACC. As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the Orange are projected to be a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme. It would be SU’s first appearance since 2021.

Published on March 5, 2024 at 4:52 pm

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