Buffalo women’s basketball head coach Felisha Leggete-Jack hired by Syracuse

After a ten-year stop at Buffalo, Felisha Leggete-Jack could no longer ignore the calls from home, accepting the Syracuse women’s basketball head coaching job on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m very appreciative of the job that Felisha Legette-Jack has done to elevate our women’s basketball program to a nationally recognized brand that is highly competitive,” Buffalo athletic director Mark Alnuttsaid via press release. “I’ve had the honor and privilege to work with Felisha the last four years and realized early on in our relationship that Syracuse was her dream job. She has worked hard to position herself to achieve this dream and for that I am genuinely excited for her and her family. We thank Coach Jack for all that she has done for not just UB Athletics but for the University community and Western New York. She has left this program in a better place than she inherited and made this a very attractive job which will garner national interest. I look forward to welcoming our next women’s basketball head coach in the near future.”

leggette-Jack, who just led the Bulls to their third NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years this past month, will take over at Syracuse effective immediately, replacing interim head coach Vonn Reed—who himself replaced Quentin Hillman after his resignation in August 2021.

“We are thrilled to have Coach Legette-Jack lead our Women’s Basketball program,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said via press release. ”She is a builder of programs, evidenced by the success she had at the University at Buffalo. She is totally committed to the full development of every student-athlete and staff member who is part of her program. On behalf of Syracuse Athletics, all our alumni and fans around the globe, we welcome Coach Legette-Jack and her family back to Syracuse University and Central New York.”

It’s a homecoming for Leggete-Jack, who hadpublicly expressed interest in returningto Syracuse in the past, and recently attended the retirement ceremony for her #33 jersey earlier this season.

A native of Syracuse who played at Nottingham HS, Leggete-Jack still ranks top 10 in career points and rebounds in Orange history and was pivotal to Syracuse’s first-ever Big East championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.

This will be Leggete-Jack’s fourth stop as a head coach, with previous stops at Hofstra (2002-2005) and Indiana (2006-2011) before returning to Northern New York with Buffalo. Leggete-Jack is 343-279 between all stops.

In her time with the Bulls, Leggete-Jack helped set the standard in a highly-competitive MAC women’s basketball scene, finishing her 10 years at the helm 201-114 (111-68 Mid-American Conference) with three NCAA Tournament appearances, four overall postseason appearances and nine winning seasons, with five seasons winning 20+ games.

She is set to inherit a shaky situation, with a sizeable amount of payers set to transfer out of the Syracuse program and no recruits currently committed to join the team next season.

Buffalo assistant coach Kristen Sharkey will be the interim head coach while the university conducts a nationwide search for Leggete-Jack, effective immediately.