Syracuse Women’s Basketball Coach Felisha Legette-Jack Calls Out NCAA For ‘Unfair’ Draw After 53-Point Loss To 1 Seed UConn

Syracuse Orange head coach Felisha Legette-Jack was not pleased with the NCAA selection committee following their 98-45 loss to the number one overall seeded UConn Huskies in the round of 32.

“For us to do what we’ve done, to continuously have to come to UConn … it’s unfair to the young people,” she said, continuing to say that it was “unacceptable,” “wrong” and a “personal attack.”

Legette-Jack was hired in 2022 as the new coach of the Syracuse women’s team and has seen success, leading the Orange to two tournament appearances in the past four years. Both times they have made the tournament, they have been tasked with facing UConn in the second round.

Syracuse was a nine-seed and beat eight-seeded Iowa State in round one before facing UConn. The reigning champions left no doubt, being up 65-12 at halftime. The first time these two teams matched up, Syracuse kept it close, losing 72-64 in 2024.

Legette-Jack also faced UConn back in 2019 when she was the head coach at Buffalo, losing in the second round again, 84-72.

The likely reason is that the NCAA selection committee usually determines bracket placement based on geography. However, Legette-Jack said that Syracuse has “earned the right to go anywhere outside the four-hour radius.” She also added that she would’ve been content with a 10-seed just so they could avoid having to face UConn.

According to NCAA rules, “Any team that has to travel at least 400 miles during the opening weekend is eligible to take a flight chartered by the NCAA. That drops to 350 miles for the regional finals and the Final Four.” This allows the NCAA to save money.

At the end of her press conference, she made sure to show her respect toward the UConn program, saying, “Just before I go, I just want to say thank you, UConn, for growing women’s basketball to newfound heights every year. You just make it great,” Legette-Jack said. “And our hope is that we can grow our program so that we can be competitive enough so when they bring us back here next year, we’ll be more prepared. Thank you. God bless.”