ACC Tournament Guide 2024

‘UNDERDOG’

Dyaisha Fair has carried Syracuse to a historic season. Yet the lack of national coverage surrounding the star guard has been damning.

Page 4

2ND-YEAR TURNAROUND

Felisha Legette-Jack shifted the culture of Syracuse’s women’s basketball in just her second season as head coach, leading to a historic regular season.

Page 6

HUMBLE BEAST

Maliq Brown has broken out as an invaluable asset for SU in his sophomore season while keeping his laid-back, easygoing nature.

Page 10

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Both Syracuse basketball programs are on the rise. The women’s squad notched its highest Atlantic Coast Conference finish (third place) since 2015-16, while the men’s team delivered its first 20-win regular season in six years. Now, they each barrel toward the 2024 ACC Tournament with a chance to make magic in March.

Syracuse’s women’s head coach Felisha Legette-Jack has spurred the program’s return to prominence in just her second season at the helm. LegetteJack’s group has been bolstered by Saniaa Wilson, a bruising post presence who packs a unique punch in a deep frontcourt, and led by Dyaisha Fair, who has put together a historic 2023-24 campaign yet

still searches for more national recognition.

As for the men’s side, the Orange weathered midseason adversity and blowout losses to complete a late-season surge and salvage the first year of the Adrian Autry era. While Gerry McNamara provided a major impact among SU’s roster in his debut season as associate head coach. Plus, multi-faceted center Maliq Brown kept Syracuse steady through his breakout sophomore season.

The Daily Orange’s 2024 ACC Tournament Guide tells the biggest stories from Syracuse’s men’s and women’s basketball squads as they each try to win their firstever ACC title.

Thanks for reading, Cooper Andrews sports editor

Dyaisha Fair is the most overlooked player in women’s college basketball. March is her chance to establish herself in the national limelight.

COOPER ANDREWS COOPED UP

Comparisons to Brittney Griner are few and far between.

A special set of qualifications is necessary to have your name thrown in among the legends of women’s basketball. Forty-three years into the program’s history, Syracuse finally has a player who possesses a similar aura to someone like Griner — and still flies well under the radar.

Dyaisha Fair surpassed Griner and moved into fifth place in the all-time scoring list on Feb. 25. She currently totals 3,328 points, dropping 22.2 per game across five years. Not only that, but Fair has catalyzed SU’s dramatic turnaround from the gutters of turmoil to bonafide contenders within a stacked Atlantic Coast Conference.

Case closed — she’s cemented legend status. Yet Fair is rarely discussed on a national stage. It’s nothing new to Fair — the 5-foot-5 guard has been overlooked since she was a recruit — though you’d expect more attention for the player who Felisha Legette-Jack believes is SU’s greatest of all time.

“One thing I know to be

true is that life isn’t fair,” LegetteJack said on Feb. 11 when asked about the coverage Fair receives. “If nobody else know what she’s doing … I see it.”

In a rapidly growing sport, Fair has become the most ignored star in women’s college basketball. The national spotlight often gravitates toward Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, USC’s Juju Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo — and for good reason — but what Fair has accomplished is unprecedented. Unlike the others, who were highly-touted recruits, Fair has gone from an undesirable prospect to spearheading a program to one of its best seasons ever.

While Fair has undeniable prowess as an individual, she lacks a postseason resume as her career is coming to a close. With Syracuse primed for an NCAA Tournament return, there hasn’t been a better time for her to explode. Fair will solidify her legacy in March and finally earn a spot in the national conversation.

“I do deserve to be covered more nationally … I feel like I’m the underdog. I’m underrated,” Fair said on March 3. “I take it as motivation with life itself.”

Central and western New Yorkers know the story. Fair was considered too small to play for most Division I teams out of Edison Tech High School (Rochester). Legette-Jack was one of few who believed, and she’s reaped the benefits at the University at Buffalo and Syracuse. Under Legette-Jack’s guidance, Fair progressed from dominating mid-majors to being one of the most lethal, unabating

threats in the country. Top five all-time in 3-pointers made. Top three in games played. Buffalo’s captain en route to a 2022 MidAmerican Conference title. And the marshal behind SU tying its regular-season win record this year (23). She has all the makings of a media darling. Who couldn’t get behind an athlete who defies the limitations of short stature while lighting up arenas around the nation with ruthless offense?

But you won’t find much of Fair through a simple scroll of espnW’s Instagram account — the company’s main source for women’s athletic content. Instead, it’s predominantly a mix of Clark, Watkins, Hidalgo and LSU gymnastics, spurred by TikTok star Livvy Dunne. Stars like them are significant faces of women’s sports and must continue to be highlighted in great detail. Yet, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for Fair.

Yes, Fair still earns posts here and there, usually when she breaks a record. Though a 31-point performance against then-No. 15 Florida State wasn’t big enough for espnW to create a post. It only offered a repost from the ACC Network. Even when SB Nation displayed an Instagram graphic on March 3 of Clark

dyaisha

By Zak Wolf asst. sports editor

Pregame speeches are a given with Felisha Legette-Jack. But the tone, motivation and content all vary.

When then-No. 22 Syracuse traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to face then-No. 15 Notre Dame, Legette-Jack pulled at the team’s heartstrings by talking about their mothers. She went player by player, detailing the sacrifices their mothers have made. Legette-Jack knew each player’s background and used it to push her team. She told them their work on the court would make the sacrifices worth it.

“Before the game, every time she puts it in our minds that it’s not about us…Whatever is going on in your life, just get behind your sister and play for somebody bigger than yourselves,” said SU forward Kyra Wood.

Syracuse walked out of Notre Dame with a 79-65 win, the Orange’s first-ever road victory over the Fighting Irish. Legette-Jack’s speech served as a microcosm of her impact on SU.

In her second year as Syracuse’s head coach, Legette-Jack has turned the program around. Hired in March

2022, Legette-Jack took over a program in turmoil. Still recovering from the Quentin Hillsman saga and the ensuing 11-win season under interim coach Vonn Read, SU needed a reboot. So it looked to a fresh, yet familiar face in Legette-Jack — who played for the program from 1984-89 — to turn it around.

Seventeen wins in year one was the springboard for a program record-tying 23-win regular season in 2023-24. The Orange have returned to the national spotlight, earning a top four seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the first time in three years. LegetteJack’s success earned her ACC coach of the year honors. There haven’t been any drastic changes in year two. Minor roster tweaks included the addition of freshmen Alyssa Latham and Sophie Burrows along with Michigan transfer Izabel Varejão. Overall, the

nucleus remained the same. SU is led by star point guard Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley, who packs a scoring punch.

“The people that were here last year, understand that one of the things that cost us some opportunities was the fact that we didn’t uphold the standards,” Legette-Jack said. “And the young ladies that we’ve brought in are ready to be a part of something special.”

It started in the offseason when Legette-Jack invited the team over to her house for wings and pizza, a yearly tradition. In addition to serving food, Legette-Jack indulges in games of Spades and plays foosball, where she often loses, according to Woolley.

“They’re my life. I don’t have a lot of fun things I do outside of hanging out with the team and watching them grow and get better and become phenomenal women and they understand that,” Legette-Jack told the ACC Network.

The way Legette-Jack connects with her team works in tandem with how they view her. LegetteJack said her players know she cares about them enough to tell

The culture of what (Legette-Jack) instills in her players has made me realize that over time … that there’s always another side and no matter what if you keep working you’ll reach it

Dyaisha Fair syracuse point guard

the truth. And though the truth is hard to tell, Legette-Jack said her team can see it’s coming from a good place. “She always finds a way when you don’t know what you need to hear, to say what you need to hear,” Woolley said. When Syracuse started 3-0 and fell 83-81 to then-No. 20 Maryland in its first true test, Legette-Jack said her team “lost by the numbers” but “won the season” since the reaction in the locker room was different.

Legette-Jack added that it felt like “a moment of change” while Woolley said it was a “wake-up call” for the team when they realized how good they were. Woolley, along with Fair, know the influence Legette-Jack can have as they made an NCAA Tournament with her in 2022 at Buffalo.

From her first phone call with Legette-Jack, Woolley knew she wanted to commit to Buffalo. Despite being thousands of miles away in Australia, Woolley could feel the energy through the phone and felt a genuine connection with Legette-Jack.

But if there’s one individual who encapsulates Legette-Jack’s impact, it’s Fair. Underrecruited out of Rochester, New York, she was doubted because of her size. Fair needed just one person to believe in her. Legette-Jack did.

She was honest with Fair and told her she needed to improve her grades. Legette-Jack knew Fair had a lot on her plate as she helped take care of her brothers and sisters, but she “needed to be selfish.”

Five years later, Fair is a top-five scorer in NCAA women’s basketball

Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack has helped the Orange to their best regularseason finish in eight years see legette-jack page 11

In her first two years as Syracuse’s head coach, Felisha Legette-Jack has turned the program around from an 11-win season in 2021-22

SOURCE: CUSE.COM

felisha legette-jack has helped take Syracuse to new heights alongside Dyaisha Fair, who she has coached for the last five seasons. joe zhao asst. photo editor

SU has felt a culture change under Legette-Jack. In two years, she’s tied a record for regular-season wins. arnav pokhrel staff photographer

Ties most regular-season wins in program history

same tranquil mindset and strong player development skills through his promotion to associate head coach

By Henry O’Brien senior staff writer

Adrian Autry sat in his office, looking down at the crowd for his introductory press conference as the new head coach of Syracuse men’s basketball. Autry was surrounded by his family and cameras, citing the nerves he felt.

On a day where he encountered players and coaches from his past and future, Autry received one more visitor in his new office: Gerry McNamara.

Autry, dressed up in a black suit and orange tie, was excited and timid for his introduction. The former SU point guard-turned-assistant coach wore a blue Syracuse quarter zip and sat calmly with a smile, seemingly without a care in the world.

“You’re gonna get emotional on me?” McNamara asked the new head coach.

As an assistant coach, McNamara never wanted to get too high or too low, remaining at the same level of calm. He’s kept the same mentality in his first year as Syracuse’s associate head coach, the role Autry held from 2016 until his promotion. It’s been a natural progression for McNamara, but anyone surrounding Syracuse basketball can tell you that McNamara has remained the same in all facets, especially when it comes to improving the play of his guards.

Take starting guard J.J. Starling, who had up-and-down stretches through his first 19 games with Syracuse. While Starling shot 44% from the field, he converted at just 29% from beyond the arc. There were points of the season where he impressed, like

when he scored 22 points against Miami. But he’s also struggled, like in the season opener against New Hampshire, shooting 3-of-13.

At the end of January, Starling had another shaky performance, shooting 4-of-14 and scoring just 10 points in a blowout home loss to Florida State. But on the Saturday afternoon leading up to an evening matchup versus NC State, Starling was in the gym working with McNamara.

“I’m in the gym all the time with Coach G,” Starling said in the postgame press conference. “He’s just making sure my mechanics are right, just making sure I have the right confidence.”

Kyle Cuffe Jr. also practices with McNamara on his shotmaking, chirping him as he fires toward the net. Autry noted that for every player on the roster, McNamara can pinpoint how to coach them up to be better. But aside from actual mechanics, there was one phrase that McNamara repeated over and over to Cuffe Jr.

“He’ll come and talk to me and be like, ‘Come on now. Come on now. Come on now,’” Cuffe Jr. said.

Cuffe Jr. and Starling both mentioned how working with McNamara keeps their confidence up.

Justin Taylor, who has struggled this season with just 5.2 points per game and a 35.7% field goal percentage, said that McNamara understands the struggles. They’ve all been Syracuse basketball players.

On Jan. 20, 2004, McNamara was in pain during a game against Seton Hall. Initially, he thought it was a groin pull, but an endof-season MRI revealed it was a stress fracture in his pelvic bone. As he played on, McNamara led Syracuse to the Sweet 16. Though

he had moments of brilliance while hurt, he often struggled. He scored just eight points against Pittsburgh in the game following the injury.

With his experiences, McNamara is empathetic to the current batch of SU players, many of whom have

struggled with injuries this season.

“We all go through our ups and downs,” Taylor said on Feb. 24. “And he’s a guy that was a legend here and I’m able to talk to him about anything in the world.”

Right as Taylor said this in the locker room, McNamara, with a big

We all go through our ups and downs. And he’s a guy that was a legend here and I’m able to talk to him about anything in the world.

Justin Taylor

smile, walked up behind him and gave the maligned guard a big pat on the back.

But to McNamara’s superior, it’s par for the course. When the two coached under Jim Boeheim, both felt free to speak their minds during meetings. In a similar vein, McNamara speaks freely to the Orange’s guards and shooters.

McNamara has told Chris Bell, who leads Syracuse in 3-pointers, that he doesn’t like it when the forward doesn’t shoot from deep, saying open looks may prove hard to come by. In SU’s 82-76 win over Louisville, Bell said he received subtle gestures from McNamara, like a pat on the back or even a facial expression, to know that he should be shooting a 3.

In the second half against the Cardinals, Bell swerved at the left wing and buried a step-back 3-pointer to put the Orange up by 19. While Syracuse’s bench celebrated, McNamara stayed in his seat and just looked back at Bell and his teammates as they ran back on defense. Autry said McNamara’s ability to build confidence in his players comes through having those moments during games and simply spending time around them.

“I think all great coaching (is) when you have your players complimenting you during the season or in anything that is positive is because they spent time together. And I think that’s what we do better than any staff,” Autry said. “We spend a lot of

syracuse guard see mcnamara page 11

gerry mcnamara devotes himself to improving SU’s guards, including J.J. Starling. nick luttrell staff photographer

Former Syracuse men’s basketball player Gerry McNamara has risen in the program’s coaching ranks from an assistant to SU’s associate head coach. meghan hendricks senior staff photographer

Before Gerry McNamara was named associate head coach in 2023, current head coach Adrian Autry held the position since 2016.

lasting legend

Gerry McNamara leads SU in many all-time categories, ranking top five in six of them SOURCE:

legit

YOU NAME IT, WE BUILD IT. FRESH DOUGH, MADE FROM SCRATCH DAILY. REAL INGREDIENTS. NO NITRITES. NO KIDDING.

180 SECONDS IN OUR OPEN-FLAME OVEN. FAST-FIRE’D PERFECTION. NOW THAT’S LIT.

Ivalued more than ever — Syr acuse forward Saniaa Wilson embraces a rare old-fashioned back-to-the-basket presence.

Felisha Legette-Jack, who played for SU from 1985-89 before taking over as its head coach in 2022, became one of the best players in program history by dominating down low. But with how basketball has evolved, current players rarely embrace that style of play.

“(Wilson is) the only one on the team that kind of reminds me of myself,” Legette-Jack said at a media availability on Feb. 21. “She’s a back-to-the-basket post player that loves contact and she loves to go through the contact.”

As a junior, Wilson’s interior dominance has helped lead Syracuse to its best regular season since 2015-16. Her 56.5% field goal percentage ranks in the 97th percentile of Division I while her 1.8 offensive rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game rank in the 86th and 80th percentiles, respectively, per HerHoopStats. Wilson’s presence near the rim enhances SU’s versatile fourplayer forward rotation.

Despite only averaging a careerhigh 5.0 points per game, Wilson’s bulldozing post ability can take over games. Against Ohio on Dec. 9, she scored a career-high 18 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field while making eight of her 10 free throws. But in most cases, Wilson understands she has to do the dirty work down low.

“If I’m just (in) there to play defense and get rebounds, I’m going to be the best (person) to do it,” Wilson said. “If my job is to be an offensive presence and get (offensive) boards and keep plays alive, that’s what I got to do.”

Yet growing up in Rochester, New York, Wilson said she was expected to do everything on the court. In elementary school, Wilson’s long-time teammate Marianna Freeman said she stood nearly 5-foot-10, making her the tallest player on every team she played for. Her unprecedented size instantly gravitated her toward basketball.

Wilson said she initially hated the sport but soon learned to love it when she found the right team as a third grader. With her combination of skill and size, Wilson — starting in elementary school — played against older players.

“I’ve always played in the grade above me because I was just too big for my grade,” Wilson said.

“Nobody actually believed I was in the grade I was in and it’s almost like we kind of had to prove it to people like, okay, she is just that good. She’s just young.”

In seventh grade, Wilson joined Bishop Kearney High School’s varsity team. In her six years of playing varsity, eight of Wilson’s high school teammates went on to play college basketball. But from the start, she was the team’s focal point.

Bishop Kearney head coach

Kevan Sheppard said Wilson was nearly the same size she is now (6-foot) as a seventh grader. Wilson’s teammates constantly pushed her as she led the team in scoring and rebounding as a middle schooler.

“They didn’t take it easy on her because she was younger because she was also bigger than a lot of them,” Sheppard said. “But they knew that’s what was going to make her better.

She’s able to understand her power. And she understands that in order for us to have success, you gotta have somebody to have a back to the basket. She chose herself.

She’s never been afraid to jump in the mix with people who have bigger names or fanfare. She’s a competitor.”

97th Percentile

As Wilson continued to develop, so did her on-court responsibilities. While her touches on the block increased, so did opposing teams’ defensive pressure. It forced Wilson to develop her distributing and outside shooting skills.

When Wilson commanded the ball offensively, it created a predicament for opposing teams. They could collapse on Wilson, letting her dish to open 3-point shooters. Or they could close out on shooters, letting Wilson torment them down low. With Wilson’s game continuously enhancing, she ignited Bishop Kearney’s run of three straight Section V championships.

“Her post presence alone, it draws a lot of the defense,” Freeman said. “Essentially, if we didn’t have her, we more than likely wouldn’t have won those (sectional championships).”

But once Wilson arrived at the University at Buffalo as a freshman in 2021, something was different. She was no longer the tallest, most

see wilson page 11

felisha legette-jack said that Saniaa Wilson reminds her of herself as a bruising, old-fashioned power forward. joe zhao asst. photo editor

As a back-to-the-basket power forward, Saniaa Wilson brings a new element to the Orange’s ACC tournament roster. Wilson is averaging 5.0 points per game this season. nick luttrell staff photographer

Felisha Legette-Jack syracuse head wbb coach

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

interior dominance

Saniaa Wilson has shot 56.5% from the field this season, ranking in the 97th percentile of Division I

SOURCE: HERHOOPSTATS.COM

Maliq Brown is quiet in his demeanor, but loud on the court through his role as an irreplaceable, multi-faceted center in his sophomore season at SU

By Tyler Schiff senior staff writer

Maliq Brown sits still, gazing at the rows of banners lining the Carmelo K. Anthony Center’s far wall. He dons a blank hoodie, sweatpants and a hooded North Face down jacket. Gray New Balance sneakers complete the look. Quiet but presentable, nothing flashy nor remarkable. He nods every so often — a polite gesture to show he’s listening — yet remains expressionless. Prompt Brown to smile and you’ll feel a sense of major accomplish -

winner and he always wants to see others win.”

Brown will continue to be an invaluable asset for Syracuse in the 2024 ACC Tournament. Expect Brown to do what he always does: help with defensive stops, generate turnovers and sneakily stuff the box score. But don’t anticipate any extracurricular antics or excessive boasting.

He treats the sport differently, abiding by Tasha’s mantra: “You show up louder when you’re silent.”

It’s been a while since Brown celebrated outwardly. From elementary through middle school, he excelled at football and basketball. He dominated across every youth league

Brown’s reserved manner wasn’t appreciated. Tasha recalled an unorthodox AAU practice with Team Loaded — a regional powerhouse based in Richmond, Virginia — where coaches put Brown through a specialized drill to elicit more emotion.

The origins of Brown’s humility can be traced back to his childhood and the constant acknowledgment of his parents’ hard work.

On weekdays, Tasha leaves by 5 a.m. for her human resources job

For over half the session, Brown needed to dunk the ball and scream. If he didn’t yell, he’d have to keep doing it. The fact that his on-court production had no correlation with how loud he was made the entire process even more embarrassing. It just wasn’t him.

Aside from playing with Team

Even while throwing two-handed jams and posting historic statlines, Maliq Brown displays a methodical approach as SU’s versatile center. arnav pokhrel staff photographer

from page 4 fair

breaking the overall college basketball scoring record, the site seemingly omitted Fair from the list despite her accumulating more points than each of the final three names on the post.

Clark and Hidalgo were both five stars. They were supposed to be here. Fair, though, is someone who built her legacy from the ground up and can be a role model for those who look to emulate her by defying the odds. But Fair can’t do that without immense coverage.

Fair’s modest Instagram following of just over 9,000 is dwarfed by Clark’s 1 million. There are a few ball-centric differences between the two that can explain the discrepancy. Clark is a four-year player — her numbers

from page 6

legette-jack

history and one of the best point guards in the country. After passing former Baylor star Brittney Griner to enter the top five in a win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 25, Fair spoke candidly about her relationship with Legette-Jack. Fair tried to fight back the tears as she explained how the belief from her coach isn’t common.

“The culture of what (Legette-Jack) instills in her players has made me realize that over time … that there’s always another side and no matter what if you keep working you’ll reach it,” Fair said.

All across Syracuse’s roster, Legette-Jack has built connections. Coming out of junior

from page 7

mcnamara

time with our guys. Being in the gym, being able to have that conversation. I think that that’s huge and Gerry is one of the best at it.”

Former Syracuse center John Bol Ajak said McNamara has earned the respect of players throughout his time at SU, but also when he played against the team managers. Ajak said to look at McNamara’s ankles. Both have been

from page 9 wilson

dominant player on the court. In her first year at the D-I level, Wilson only appeared in 14 games, averaging 10.9 minutes per game when she did play.

When Legette-Jack left Buffalo to become Syracuse’s head coach ahead of the 2022-23 season, Wilson was one of four Buffalo players to follow her to SU.

In her first season with the Orange, Wilson was part of a three-player forward rotation alongside Dariauna Lewis and Kyra Wood. Wilson mainly came off the bench, averaging 12.1 minutes per game across 27 contests.

“The more you move up from high school, you go to college, you’re no longer the biggest player on the court,” Sheppard said. “So, having a couple of years under her belt, to play against people that was her size and

from page 10 brown

Loaded, Brown frequented workouts with former coaches at Blue Ridge and local trainer James Thompson — an old teammate of Preston’s. This past offseason, he spent most of his time with Thompson, emulating gamelike situations.

Split in two 20-minute halves, the pair never practiced longer than 40 minutes. They carried out exercises to bolster Brown’s impact on a guard-reliant Syracuse squad. He read misses off of the rim to rebound better. He concentrated on executing efficient rimruns and pivots. He perfected skip passing, hedging off of screens and tightened up on shooting mechanics.

Off the court, Brown picked up plyometrics. He took lifting more seriously, put on weight and cleaned up his diet. He emphasized cardio training by utilizing bikes and treadmills.

“I’m not taking anything for granted,” Brown said. “Just knowing I wanted to get better — bigger and stronger. Just knowing that my game will pick up this year.”

Thompson didn’t expect Brown at the center position this season. Focus over the summer was sculpted around readying Brown to play power forward. But, an abrupt injury to 7-foot-4 Naheem McLeod thrust Brown into a starting role.

Though considered undersized, Brown’s physicality and intangibles made the transition seamless. He held his own against some of the ACC’s top frontcourt players and never complained about getting touches.

“He’s a great teammate, people want to be around him,” said Blue Ridge assistant Parker

are held in higher regard than a fifth-year in Fair — Iowa is ranked higher than Syracuse and Clark’s statistics are gaudier than Fair’s.

At the same time, Fair’s longevity makes her career comparable to arguably the greatest women’s basketball player ever. The adjustment from running the point in a mid-major conference to the ACC is steep. Yet Fair transitioned seamlessly.

She dropped 19.9 points per game in her first season in the Power Six. Dazzling displays from beyond the arc, including a 36-point outburst with eight 3s versus Virginia and seven 3-pointers against Pitt, established Fair as one of the country’s premier long-range assassins. And it was merely a preview.

Fair has brought her game to the next level in 2023-24, earning All-ACC First Team hon-

college, Dominique Camp wanted to play for Legette-Jack at Buffalo. Instead, the coach picked another player over her. So after a season at Troy, Camp called Legette-Jack to express her continued interest in Buffalo. This time, it worked out. But when LegetteJack left for Syracuse, there was no room for Camp, who then transferred to Akron.

When Camp’s head coach at Akron was fired in the middle of the season, she called LegetteJack crying, asking if she was bad luck. At that moment, the coach realized it was time for Camp to “join their family again.”

Camp hasn’t played for Syracuse due to injury, but she’s still making an impact. In December, Camp gifted each of her teammates and coaches customized slides through an NIL

broken before — Ajak said the assistant coach’s ankles are “done.” But he still chirped and would bring it to the managers with the bottom of his feet wrapped up in tape.

“If you see G-Mac and say, ‘Let me see your ankles,’ you will never see any type of softness in him,” Ajak said.

When the two met, Ajak said McNamara was at a “normal level.” Ajak expanded, stating that during games, McNamara changed his demeanor depending on his players’ moods.

longer, allowed for her to hone her game a little more.”

Though Lewis graduated, Syracuse drastically improved its forward rotation for 202324 by adding freshman Alyssa Latham and Michigan transfer Izabel Varejão to its tandem of Wilson and Wood.

Latham and Varejão’s additions created a “dream scenario,” Wilson said. The newlook rotation allowed her to focus on excelling down low while her teammates added different elements. Wood takes defenders off the dribble and crashes the glass, Varejão’s shooting creates spacing and Latham adds versatility.

“We all have a certain role that we play and that we stick to,” Wood said. “We can lean on another person if another role is needed … Saniaa can go out there and (play) big bully ball for us.”

In Syracuse’s 73-72 comeback win over then-No. 15 Louisville on Feb. 11, Legette-Jack

Kirwan. “But he doesn’t care about being flashy. He cares about winning.”

Brown is piecing together a breakout sophomore campaign. He’s just the third Division I player in the last 15 years to record a coveted 5x5 game on Feb. 7, when he tallied 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists, six blocks and five steals.

He’s totaled three double-doubles and produced a handful of notable performances, including a career-high 26-point outing against Duke. All while firmly maintaining his glue guy role from last year, and of course, there’s no showboating.

“He has the poker face demeanor, but he’s an intense kid,” Thompson said.

Remove Brown from the dramatic uptick in his statistics, or crescendoing rumblings about his NBA-caliber potential and he’s the same — shy, observant, level-headed. He FaceTimes Tasha and Preston every day and excitedly flicks on the apartment gaming console for video game marathons against cousins.

Collectively, his family has the easy task of keeping him grounded. If Brown ever needs a reminder about his beginnings, he can refer to jet black ink reading “Humble Beast” down his right shoulder blade.

Tasha was always reluctant to let Brown get a tattoo. But she agrees, it’s quite fitting now.

Simple and effective. Like his patented North Face jacket. And everything else he does.

“He’s been doing stuff like this since he was young,” Preston said. “I saw it coming… and you haven’t seen half the stuff he can really do.” trschiff@syr.edu @theTylerSchiff

ors. She averaged 22 points and 3.62 3-pointers per game in the regular season. She led Syracuse to its best finish in the ACC (third place) since 2015-16 despite being picked in the preseason to place ninth. Fair’s been nearly as impactful as Clark is to her respective team, especially through her fourth-quarter heroics.

Fourteen in the fourth to spur a 19-point comeback over Clemson. Three fourth-quarter 3s, part of a program-record nine, to lead a come-from-behind win over then-No. 15 FSU. Fourteen and then eight in the fourth to carry SU past Hidalgo’s Notre Dame twice. Fair has proven she’s the epitome of a primetime player — a quality tailor-made for March.

“When the spotlight hits her, it’s going to show everybody what’s going to happen for her,” SU guard Alaina Rice said of Fair. “When

deal with iSlide.

The gesture was an ode to Legette-Jack’s motto of “our family versus their team.” Whenever she’s asked about an opposing side, Legette-Jack often deflects by detailing all that matters is what their “family” does. Camp said the gift signified her growth under Legette-Jack and that as a freshman she might’ve taken money, instead of providing for her team.

Growth is a common theme among Syracuse players when talking about LegetteJack, but it’s often not about basketball. Though Legette-Jack can be intense on the court at times and push players to the maximum, her true impact comes off the court.

Everything relates back to her pregame

If they were downtrodden, the associate head coach had more energy. When it was the opposite, McNamara remained calm.

With the promotion to associate head coach, McNamara continues to stay the same in every aspect of coaching. He always wants to beat a cool level, including in his pregame entrance.

Before Autry enters the JMA Wireless Dome with an accompanying hype video, McNamara and his fellow assistant coaches — Allen Griffin and Brenden Straughn — walk out

opted to start Wilson and Wood. Just under two minutes into the third quarter with SU trailing 45-37, Wilson was taken out of the game. She didn’t return until early in the fourth quarter when Latham picked up her third foul.

Legette-Jack originally paired Wilson with Varejão in the frontcourt, but after Syracuse’s deficit ballooned to 63-54 with 6:45 remaining in the game, Latham replaced Varejão, giving the Orange more athleticism.

A Dyaisha Fair 3 cut SU’s deficit down to 63-57, but she air-balled a step-back contested 3 over two defenders on the ensuing offensive possession after a missed Louisville 3. But because Wilson established inside positioning against U-of-L’s Olivia Cochran, she corralled the miss with one hand directly under the basket.

Along the baseline and with her back to the basket, Wilson leaped and adjusted her body in mid-air before nailing the shot while getting fouled.

it’s time to show up, she will.”

It may have been overzealous to call Syracuse the team to beat in the ACC. Fair, though, gives the Orange an edge against the nation’s top programs. Before her ensuing move to the professional ranks, Fair has had limited opportunities to entrench herself in the national narrative of women’s sports.

Fair may not lead SU to an ACC title or a National Championship. Regardless, March is where she can become immortal. Once Syracuse’s maestro conducts her final orchestra, the audience will have no choice but to bestow Fair with her long-deserved flowers.

Cooper Andrews is the Sports Editor at

The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at ccandrew@ syr.edu or on X @cooper_andrews.

speech in the Notre Dame visitor’s locker room, Wood said. Legette-Jack didn’t need to know every player’s personal stories, but she did. It’s what sets her apart from other coaches around the country and why she’s helped Syracuse rise back to prominence in women’s college basketball.

“She makes it her job to be more than that coach to us and a mentor and kind of be that person that we aspire to be because, at the end of the day, basketball is just like a fouryear, five-year sometimes six-year thing,” Wood said. “For most people, it’s not forever and so she’s looking to learn you as a person before the athlete.”

zakwolf784254@gmail.com @ZakWolf22

to smaller fanfare. But before he walked out in the Orange’s second-to-last home game of the season against Notre Dame, he fist-bumped both of the security guards who opened the path to the floor.

One of the guards, who chose to remain anonymous, smiled when asked how often McNamara does this. It happens every game.

“It’s his thing.”

henrywobrien1123@gmail.com

@realhenryobrien

“The way that (Wilson’s) game is, it’s hard to guard because a lot of post players can’t guard it, they don’t have the fundamentals to do it,” Latham said. Though she missed the ensuing free throw, Wilson notched two blocks down the stretch, helping the Orange finish the game on a 9-4 run to narrowly defeat the Cardinals.

Playing up to 28 minutes in one game and as few as two in another, Wilson’s playing time greatly depends on Syracuse’s matchup and the flow of the game. But, no matter the scenario, her powerful play style gives Legette-Jack a key piece against a packed Atlantic Coast Conference.

“She’s able to understand her power,” Legette-Jack said. “And she understands that in order for us to have success, you gotta have somebody to have a back to the basket. She chose herself.”

justingirshon@gmail.com @JustinGirshon

Even while throwing two-handed jams and posting historic statlines, Maliq Brown displays a methodical approach as SU’s versatile center. aidan groeling staff photographer