The buzz and crowd growth that has permeated women's basketball over the past year apparently hasn't rubbed off on Syracuse.
Orange coach Felisha Leggett-Jack tore apart the fan base after just 2,038 people watched Syracuse's loss to Albany inside the 30,000-plus seat JMA Wireless Dome.
“That's what I've been trying to tell the young guys on this team: Nobody cares about our program. Nobody cares about women's basketball,” Leggett-Jack said. said this at the beginning of the press conference.
“Obviously it's no one's fault, but no one's as into laughter and fun as we are, and that's fine. But we want our kids to know that the fan base we have here is… You have to concentrate on us so much that you don't realize there are 12 people. I'm trying to get people to understand that those who aren't on the court aren't really anchored because it's about our dreams of getting through everything. It depends on the decision.”
Last year saw record crowds at Caitlin Clark's college (Iowa) and pro (Fever) games, which heightened excitement for the sport on many levels.
Historically, Syracuse has always done well in men's basketball, but not so well with the women's team. Leggett Jack knows this all too well, as he grew up at Syracuse and went on to become one of the greatest players in program history from 1984-1989.
She became the first Syracuse women's player to have her jersey retired in 2021.
Leggett-Jack, who led the Orange to the NCAA Tournament last season, got off to a shaky start in his junior year with a 2-3 record, including a 73-70 setback on Wednesday.
She challenged the community to better support her and her team.
Syracuse has yet to exceed 2,500 fans in five games this season, averaging about 2,187 fans per game.
“The first thing we play for is each other. We're not going to twist that. Whatever the noise is, we have to block out the noise. If they're really fans and I have to If they really love me as much as I think they do, they don't just send 30 people to this game, they come to the game and really participate in this thing,'' Leggett-Jack said. “So I'm disappointed in the fan base here. If I'm home and this is supposed to be home, prove it, okay, this is outrageous. I'm I'm the only coach from here. And is this the kind of respect we get here? My mom always said, you can love someone, but if they don't love you back. He said you have to love others.”
Leggett Jack said he didn't feel the better team won Wednesday's game, but the better-prepared team came out victorious.
She believed Albany played each possession “as if our lives depended on it,” while the Orange team “thought we had tomorrow.”
“I'm glad I came in so the players can see that no one cares. We're crying outside, so let's have a party in here. It's not you guys, it's everyone. '' Leggett-Jack said sadly.
“That's OK, but what's not OK is that we're not giving 100 percent for ourselves. That's a life lesson we're talking about, dude. But we're not going to hunker down. We had to decide to turn off all the noise from all the people outside and lock ourselves inside and get serious with each other. This is the perfect situation for us. This was supposed to happen to us now. It's a big deal. And we'll be better.”
