Felisha Legette-Jack Defends Adrian Autry, Calls Out Syracuse Fans for Negativity
Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Felisha Legette-Jack didn’t hold back after her team’s hard-fought loss to No. 6 Louisville. During her postgame press conference, the Orange leader took a detour from Xs and Os to address something that’s clearly been weighing on her-what she sees as a troubling trend of negativity from some corners of the Syracuse fan base, particularly directed at men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry.
“You get on social media, you would think that somebody beating kids in the locker room the way our fan base on social media comes after some of my colleagues,” Legette-Jack said. She didn’t mention Autry by name, but the message was loud and clear.
And she wasn’t done.
“You don’t see that at Louisville. You don’t see that with North Carolina.
You don’t see that with Duke,” she added. “Yeah, we’re having some bad years in some sports.
But do you have to say that every time with a paragraph of negativity?”
Her comments came after the Orange women, now 19-5 (9-4 ACC), dropped a tough one to a nationally ranked Louisville squad that’s 22-4 and sitting near the top of the ACC. Legette-Jack praised Syracuse fans for showing up for her team, calling them “mostly attached to our women’s basketball program.” But she also pointed out that building a powerhouse like Louisville isn’t just about funding-it’s about culture and support.
“To get where Louisville is, it’s about money, sure,” she said. “But it’s also about the way people respect what they have.”
That respect, she argued, hasn’t always been there for Syracuse athletics lately-especially when things aren’t going well.
The men’s basketball team is in a rough stretch. After a loss to Virginia, Syracuse dropped to 13-11 overall and 4-7 in the ACC.
That’s six losses in their last seven games and a growing sense that the program is headed toward a fifth straight season without an NCAA Tournament appearance. The frustration from the fan base has been loud-on social media, in the stands, and even on the airwaves.
Autry, in his first season as head coach after taking over for Jim Boeheim, has been under fire. Student sections have chanted “Fire Autry” during games.
One caller even asked him to name his own potential replacements during his weekly radio show. It’s the kind of scrutiny that’s hard to ignore-and Legette-Jack isn’t having it.
“I was here when we won Sugar Bowls, Fiesta Bowls,” she said, referencing her own deep ties to the university. Legette-Jack played for the Orange from 1984 to 1988 and grew up in Syracuse.
“And I was here when we were challenging in the Big East championship. But I just never seen it get so negative here.
What happened?”
She invoked the names of SU legends like Rudy Hackett, Roosevelt Bouie, and Louis Orr-players who helped build the foundation of Syracuse basketball-and reminded everyone that the current coaches are working just as hard to bring the program back to that level.
“One thing I can tell you about my colleagues-they really want to help us be successful,” she said. “But you tweeting out negative stuff, saying stuff like that... what is that gonna do? Is it gonna build me up?”
To drive the point home, she offered a coaching analogy that cut straight to the heart of the matter.
“I’m coaching a kid, right? You not good.
You terrible. You suck the last game.
I can’t believe you and this team… Now, go win the game for me,” she said, mimicking the kind of criticism coaches and players often hear.
“You think that’s what’s gonna make a coach coach better or a team win more?”
Legette-Jack’s message was clear: criticism without context or support doesn’t help-it hurts. And while she acknowledged that not every season is going to be a winner, she challenged Syracuse fans to be better, to be more constructive, and to remember that negativity rarely leads to progress.
“I just don’t remember when negativity won the war,” she said.
It was a passionate, pointed reminder that behind every program-whether it’s winning or struggling-are coaches and players working to get better. And sometimes, what they need most isn’t more pressure. It’s belief.