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STORRS, Conn. — In the eyes of Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, there was always an obvious answer for who could fix Syracuse women’s basketball.

Following turbulence within SU’s program under former head coach Quentin Hillsman and a temporary season helmed by Vonn Read, the Orange needed to nail their next hiring.

Auriemma felt so compelled about the perfect candidate that he reached out to Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack and asked him a question:

“What the hell’s your problem?”

All along, Auriemma advocated for Felisha Legette-Jack, who Syracuse hired on March 26, 2022. By re-loading from the transfer portal and recruiting, the Orange improved from 11 to 20 wins in Legette-Jack’s first season. In her second, SU reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. After defeating Arizona 74-69 on March 25, No. 6 seed Syracuse faces Auriemma’s No. 3 seed UConn in the Round of 32.

“I think that Geno is an incredible coach,” Legette-Jack said. “They have an incredible system (at UConn).”

While only a few feet will separate the head coaches at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the paths the two have endured to get here are vastly different.

Auriemma, 70, immigrated to America from Italy when he was 7 years old. Playing varsity basketball in high school, Auriemma was influenced by his head coach Buddy Gardler to get into coaching. Once he graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, he became an assistant for Saint Joseph’s women’s team from 1978-79 before learning under Gardler as an assistant at Bishop Kenrick High School (Pennsylvania) — his alma mater — from 1979-81.

Since taking over as UConn’s head coach in 1985, Geno Auriemma has accumulated a 1,210-161 record and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Courtesy of UConn Athletics

From there, Auriemma became an assistant for Virginia’s women’s team from 1981-85. That’s where he initially met Legette-Jack. At Nottingham High School (New York), Legette-Jack led the Lady Bulldogs to two state titles. She fell on Auriemma’s rader, and he fell in love with her intangibles.

“I’ve been really, really a fan of hers from back then,” Auriemma said. “…I loved her as a competitor, as a player. She was active. She competed. She could score. She has an infectious personality. She was a great leader on her team.”

Legette-Jack, a member of the 1984 recruiting class, decided to stay home and commit to Syracuse. Meanwhile, Auriemma became UConn’s head coach the next fall, a position he’s held ever since. Despite both going their separate ways, Auriemma kept close tabs on Legette-Jack.

For both, the decisions were life-changing. At the time of her graduation, Legette-Jack was SU’s highest-scorer and rebounder, prompting her to become the first player in program history to have her jersey retired in 2021.

Four hours away from Syracuse, Auriemma built the best program in women’s basketball history, winning an NCAA-record 11 National Championships in the last 39 years at UConn.

To Legette-Jack, Auriemma’s system is what turned the Huskies into a powerhouse. She said she got a firsthand look at it as a recruit.

“He has a great system that he curtails behind the young people that he has for that particular season,” Legette-Jack said. “He does some things that’s very similar year in and year out, but he always has a little tweak because of the players that he has.”

Like Legette-Jack, SU assistant Sue Ludwig was recruited by Auriemma in the same class. But she also committed to Syracuse, playing alongside Legette-Jack from 1984-88. Ludwig has observed that the engineer behind Auriemma’s success — who she called the GOAT of women’s basketball — is his relentless pursuit of greatness.

In her experience playing with her and coaching with her since 2022, Ludwig believes the same trait is what separates Legette-Jack from most coaches.

“I think the parallels between the two are just amazingly there and the reason why they’re both so successful,” Ludwig said.

In her second season as Syracuse’s head coach, Felisha Legette-Jack led the Orange to a program-record 23 regular wins and their first NCAA Tournament win since 2021. Arnav Pokhrel | Staff Photographer

Yet unlike Auriemma, whose only losing season at the helm came in his first season with the Huskies, Legette-Jack experienced the ebbs and flows most young coaches endure. After serving as an assistant at Boston College, Syracuse and Michigan State, Legette-Jack earned her first stint as a head coach at Hofstra from 2002-06.

Under her tutelage, the Pride went 54-63 and never made the NCAA Tournament. Though, in her last two seasons with Hofstra, it went 45-20, helping her make the jump to coach Indiana from 2006-12.

After moving to the Power Five, the Hoosiers went 58-40 across Legette-Jack’s first three seasons but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. Despite early success, IU faltered to a 29-60 record over Legette-Jack’s last three seasons, prompting Athletic Director Fred Glass to fire her.

“I think there were some struggles early in (Legette-Jack’s) career, which there are for most people,” Auriemma said. “And sometimes you’re in too big of a job too soon, and you’re not quite sure.”

Despite her firing, Legette-Jack landed on her feet at the University at Buffalo, where she took off as a coach. Similar to when Auriemma took over at UConn, Legette-Jack’s only losing season coaching the Bulls was her first.

In 2016, her 14th year as a Division I head coach, Legette-Jack clinched her first March Madness appearance. Yet, it took another two years for Legette-Jack to win her first NCAA Tournament game. In 2018, Buffalo defeated South Florida and Florida State before falling to South Carolina in the Sweet 16.

The next year, Legette-Jack clinched back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in her coaching career. After the Bulls defeated Rutgers in the Round of 64, they booked a matchup versus a familiar foe in the second round: Auriemma’s UConn.

Heading into the game, the Huskies were 116-0 against Mid-American Conference teams — Buffalo’s conference — and had made the Sweet 16 in 25 straight seasons. Though UConn continued its dominance, winning 84-72, its 12-point win margin was its closest game at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion since Feb. 12, 2018.

Because of his admiration for Legette-Jack, who led the Bulls back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, Auriemma maneuvered behind the scenes ahead of the 2022-23 season, trying to land her the keys to her alma mater.

“I tried really, really hard to get Felisha (the Syracuse) job before, and they finally realized the obvious thing for them to do,” Auriemma said. “I think she found the perfect spot for her at Buffalo, and it was just a matter of time until she ended up at a place where she can compete for a national championship.”

After a promising first season, Legette-Jack kicked off the team’s 2023-24 season by traveling to Storrs to face Auriemma’s squad in a closed-door scrimmage.

Since then, Legette-Jack completed a program turnaround. The Orange won a program-record 23 regular season games and notched their first NCAA Tournament win since 2021. Now, Legette-Jack and Syracuse’s next test in the big dance is Auriemma’s UConn squad.

“(Auriemma) is a great coach, Hall of Fame coach,” Legette-Jack said. “And it’s just an honor to be on the court with him.”

Published on March 25, 2024 at 1:25 am

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon