Natasha Adair becomes SU women’s basketball associate HC
Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack (above) added associate head coach Natasha Adair to her staff on Thursday to replace now-Buffalo head coach Kristen Sharkey. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse women’s basketball has hired former Arizona State head coach Natasha Adair as its associate head coach, the program announced Thursday. Adair will replace former associate head coach Kristen Sharkey, who took Buffalo’s head coaching job in April.
“I am truly elated to join the Syracuse women’s basketball staff and continue being part of a championship tradition,” Adair said in a press release. “I’ve known Coach Jack for over 20 years and have always admired her professionalism, passion and relentless drive.”
Adair served as ASU’s head coach for three years from 2022-25. In all three campaigns, the Sun Devils finished under .500, going a combined 29-62 and missing the NCAA Tournament each year. This led to Adair being fired by the program on March 8.
Before she came to Arizona State, Adair started her coaching career as an assistant at Georgetown from 1998-2004, then serving as Wake Forest’s assistant and associate head coach from 2004-12. From there, she made stops as the head coach of the College of Charleston and Georgetown.
Adair’s most successful coaching stint came with Delaware from 2017-22. In her five seasons with the Blue Hens, she steered them to four winning seasons. The success culminated in Delaware’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a decade and her being named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2021.
Now, Adair sets her sights on steering Syracuse back to March Madness alongside fourth-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. The Orange went just 12-18 last season and bowed out early with a crushing defeat to Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
