By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-21 20:37:25 | Updated at 2024-11-28 10:51:22
6 days ago
Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack slammed fans over the 'ridiculous' lack of support for her team and issued a bleak verdict on the true state of women's basketball: 'Nobody cares'.
The WNBA is riding the crest of a wave thanks to the emergence of superstars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who have brought record-breaking crowds to arenas around the country.
But Legette-Jack painted a grim picture of the sport below the very top level.
Speaking after her team's home loss to UAlbany on Wednesday, the two-time coach of the year gave an impassioned speech about the poor turnout in the stands.
Flanked by two of her players, Legette-Jack banged the table before bemoaning: 'Nobody f***ing cares man'
'This is what I've been trying to tell our young people on this team: nobody cares about our program, nobody cares about women's basketball,' she began.
Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack issued a bleak verdict on the state of women's basketball
The WNBA is riding the crest of a wave thanks to the emergence of stars such as Caitlin Clark
But Syracuse's women's team was beaten by Albany on Wednesday in front of a sparse crowd
'It's not nobody's fault... but nobody is into it like we are and that's OK. But I'm trying to get our kids to understand we've got to be so locked into us that we don't see that the fan base is like 12 people here.
'We can't see people that's not on the court not really locked in. Because it's about our dreams. It's about our decision that we're going to rise about it all. So this is the lesson learned.'
Syracuse fell to 2-3 for the season after losing 73-70 at home to UAlbany (4-0). Lilly Philips hit a game-winning three-pointer with just three and a half seconds left on the clock.
Afterwards Legette-Jack accused her team of not matching the visitors' desire on the court, claiming Albany were 'the team that decided that every single possession was going to matter as if their life depended on it.'
But the coach also expressed her frustration at the lack of 'respect' fans showed her team by turning up in such small numbers.
'The first thing we're playing for is each other. We're not going to get it twisted. We got to close the noise out, whatever that noise is,' she said.
'If they're real fans, and they really love me like I think they should, they come to the game and really be apart of this thing and not just send 30 people to this game. So I'm disappointed in my fan base here.
'If I'm home and this is supposed to be home, prove it. This is ridiculous. I'm the one coach that's from this place. And this is the respect that we get here?
Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever, has become one of the biggest superstars in sports
'My mom always said you can love somebody, but if they ain't loving you back, you gotta love somebody else.'
She added: 'I'm glad I walked in when I did so our players can see. Nobody f***ing cares man. We up here crying outside... let's go have a party in here. It's not you guys, it's everybody. And that's OK, but what's not OK is us not giving 100 percent for ourselves.'
'That's life lesson stuff that we're talking about, man. But we've got to decide that we have to hunker down and turn the noise out from all the people on the outside and lock into the inside and get real with each other.
'This is a perfect situation for us. This is what's supposed to have happened for us right now. And we'll get better.'
On Thursday, Legette-Jack apologized for her language but revealed that fans had vowed to answer her call to support her team.
'I have this amazing school that I get to coach at and I certainly used language that l am not proud of in the press room,' she said. 'That doesn't fit my character, the character I have for my family, nor for my team or the people I surround myself with.
'For that I definitely want to apologize. I hope we do understand that I value my fans and friends that do come. To use those definitive words like "nobody" and "everybody", it becomes something that sticks and speaks louder than it needs to.
I need to take those words back because there is loyal 2,000 fans that show up for women's basketball.
'There's some people that reached out to me from some major places in our community who shared with me and raised their hands and said, "I'm guilty, I don't come to the games. I need to start coming, you called me out and I'm on my way." For that, I am glad I did say it, because now we are finding those other people.'
