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Syracuse hired Buffalo's Felisha Legette-Jack as its women's basketball coach, the school said on Saturday. A Syracuse alumna, Legette-Jack was a three-time All-Big East selection as a player and became the first female athlete in school history to have her jersey retired last November.

She returns to her alma mater after a successful 10-year run at Buffalo, where she led the Bulls to a 202-115 record and four NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2018. Legette-Jack previously coached Indiana from 2006 to 2012 and Hofstra from 2002 to 2006.

"I'm coming home! These words bring me great joy," Legette-Jack said in a statement. "I thank Chancellor (Kent) Syverud and director of athletics John Wildhack for this amazing opportunity. It is a privilege and an honor to accept this position as your next head women's basketball coach. The love that I have for our city, our university, and our athletics department cannot be measured."

Legette-Jack is the program's first permanent head coach since former coach Quentin Hillsman resigned in August amid an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior. Former players and staff told The Athletic in June that Hillsman had shown a pattern of inappropriate behavior, including unwanted physical contact as well as threatening and bullying players, contributing to a mass exodus from the program. An external investigation found that a number of people associated with the program described an "unhealthy environment and culture."

Vonn Read was the team's acting head coach for 2021-22. Syracuse went 11-18 and 4-14 in the ACC.

(Photo: Bryan Bennett / Getty Images)

How big of a surprise is this?

Chantel Jennings, senior women’s basketball writer: Not a big surprise at all. When the Orange retired her jersey last season, I assumed it was pretty much a done deal at that point. She’s a New York native, a Syracuse alum, has two decades of head-coaching experience and Syracuse can afford to triple her salary. Like I said, not a big surprise.

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What to expect from Syracuse

Jennings: In nine seasons at Buffalo, Legette-Jack took the team to the NCAA Tournament four times and in 2017-18 advanced to the Sweet 16. I’m a big believer that if a coach can build a program at the mid-major level, assuming they’re given the freedom to build the program in the way in which they want, they can do the same at the power-conference level.

With Syracuse at a true rebuilding and rebranding moment, Legette-Jack should be given all the leeway she wants to remake this team and program into what she wants it to be.

Can Syracuse climb the ranks in the ACC?

Jennings: There’s going to be a lot of roster turnover at the top of the league, so there are opportunities for rebuilding programs to make some moves in the ACC. But, Syracuse isn’t starting from the bottom. This is a program that has made a national championship and has brand recognition across the country.

There’s some young talent already on this roster, but if Legette-Jack can get some transfers in from the portal they could be in good shape to at least build a foundation that can attract talent in the next few seasons.

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