By By Ryan McCord
Pride women’s basketball head coach Felicia Legette-Jack is a worthy example of a student athlete who took advantage of all the benefits a college campus has to offer. It’s safe to say she expects every one of her players to do the same.
Like many great athletes, Jack learned the art of the game by playing with her older brothers, who constantly challenged her and never let up their guard.
“We put on our sneakers to win it, not to just play the game and sweat,” Jack said. “There was never a time when I was a girl, let alone their little sister.”
Growing up in Syracuse, a town and school rich in college basketball tradition, Jack certainly left her mark at Syracuse University as one of the greatest women’s basketball players in the history of the Big East.
On the court, she played every game and practice like it was her last. Off the court, she realized at a young age that the relationships she developed and education she received had the self-fulfilling potential to stay with her for a lifetime.
“Out of all the games I played in college, I don’t remember one in particular. I remember the relationships. Being in weddings or becoming the godmother of my teammates’ children. The laughs…talking about the head coach behind her back,” explained Jack, the career rebounding leader at Syracuse.
The two time All-American didn’t have the WNBA to fall back on when she graduated in 1989, so she took considerable opportunities one step at a time. Two seasons, as a high school head coach and 11 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach at three different schools, gave her plenty of experience and added knowledge to be more than qualified to become a head coach.
As a long time assistant, Jack earned a reputation as both a relentless recruiter and an honorable academic monitor. Carrying those essential elements over to the Lady Pride basketball program, the 2003-04 CAA Coach of the Year makes it clear to her players that if they are not hitting the books, then the possibility of hitting shots will be surrendered.
“I’ll take the game away if you don’t prove to me you are giving your best effort academically,” Jack said. “Because an education is not for anybody but yourself. When you walk away from this University, I want you to do so with a degree.”
Academics, unfortunately, are becoming a thing of the past for a majority of young male basketball participants. Ever since Kevin Garnett made that breakthrough leap from high school to the NBA the floodgates opened for a tidal wave of callow young men to sweep their education and common sense under the carpet. Jack, the 1985 Big East Rookie of the Year, contemplates the possibility for the next Diana Taurasi or Sue Bird to make that life altering decision.
“That’s not what women stand for. I don’t want the women who are raising our children to be uneducated,” she said. “There’s something special about college and I see it as a four tier process: simply growing up, becoming well-rounded academically, soaking in the culture as well as the sport and that other thing you learn that you don’t even know about.”
Now in her fourth season as the Pride head coach, the expectation level for a winning team and postseason birth beyond the CAA tournament is evident, both front and center. Jack embraces the pressure, allowing her wisdom and passion for the game and life alike to speak for itself and rub off on her players.
“I’m here to win basketball games, help young women become a power with the ability to empower others.”