L
aila Phelia should’ve been on the court. It was an early spring practice in Tampa, Florida. In a few days, her Texas Longhorns would take the court for a Final Four meeting with South Carolina.
Phelia transferred to Texas for moments like this. As a former First-Team All-Big Ten selection at Michigan, she expected to help the Longhorns make a national title push. She wanted to be tuning up her teammates with aggressive perimeter defense or firing up 3-point shots.
Instead, she swapped the basketball for a clipboard. Phelia sat on the sideline, tracking her teammates’ makes and misses from afar. It was just one way she tried to stay involved after a season-ending eye injury.
“It was one of those things I had to be positive about,” Phelia said. “I just found happiness by cheering on the team, helping with whatever the team needs and just being that person that everyone can come to.”
After a stellar three-year stretch at Michigan, which included two 16-point per game seasons and an Elite Eight appearance, Phelia went to Austin to play a key role with a national championship contender. Instead, she spent most of the year sidelined with a detached retina — a genetic condition where a layer of tissue detaches from the back of the eye — as the No. 1 seed Longhorns advanced to the Final Four.
Phelia pursued a medical hardship waiver to reclaim her final year of eligibility. She used it to transfer to Syracuse, where she hopes to help the Orange adopt her winning ways while reestablishing herself as one of college basketball’s premier two-way guards.
“While I was adjusting to my new vision and trying to get back to that player that I was, I felt like it would be best to go elsewhere and rebuild that confidence,” Phelia said. “I went into a program (at Texas) that had their players, had their main people, and it felt to me like this was gonna be a rebuilding year for myself.”
Last season was supposed to be the crowning touch on Phelia’s collegiate career. She transferred to a Texas squad that made the Elite Eight the year prior and was poised to be the Longhorns’ starting shooting guard.
Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
Those plans drastically changed over the summer. Phelia woke up one morning in late June and had what she described as a “black curtain” covering part of her eye.
She thought nothing of it. She’d just moved to Austin and had been spending a lot of time in the sun, so she assumed her eyes were just sensitive. The next day, the “black curtain” dropped past Phelia’s vision line. She went to the eye doctor, who told her she needed emergency surgery for a detached retina.
“All I heard was ‘emergency eye surgery,’” Phelia said. “(The doctor) said, we either have it tonight or tomorrow, but we can’t push it off. I was freaking out.”
It wasn’t because of the sun. It wasn’t because Phelia got hit in the eye. It was genetics, but they kicked in at the worst time.
The initial round of therapeutics featured surgery, cryotherapy and laser treatments. Phelia’s left eye swelled shut. It took weeks to restore vision in that eye.
Eventually, she regained enough sight to begin the season with the Longhorns. But after playing just eight games, she needed another surgery. While it wasn’t an easy decision, Phelia felt it was best to sit out the year to let her vision adjust.
She mainly focused on rebuilding her hand-eye coordination, so she learned to juggle. While the Longhorns turned in a 35-4 season, Phelia tried to stay involved whenever she could. That often meant tracking her teammates’ shots during practice, scouting opponents or attending her teammates’ individual workouts.
By the end of the Longhorns’ season, Phelia knew she wanted to use her final year of eligibility somewhere new to rediscover herself as a player.
Laila Phelia drives down the lane in SU’s exhibition win over Daemen on Oct. 28. After missing 30 games last season with Texas, she’s focused on rebuilding her game with the Orange. Tara DeLuca | Contributing Photographer
When Phelia entered the portal, she only spoke with about five schools, including South Carolina and LSU. But Phelia said she needed a coach who understood her situation — she was looking for a place to rebound, not one that expected her to be the same as she was two seasons before.
“Other coaches, in their mind, I’m the same player that I was. But I personally feel like it’s gonna be a little different,” Phelia said. “It’s just needing that patience and that time to actually get back.”
SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, who coached Phelia with the U.S. national team in 2023, was a perfect match.
“We got blessed with someone like her because everybody in the country was wanting her,” Legette-Jack said. “I guess she remembered me a little bit from USA Basketball, and I definitely remembered her. It was a perfect storm.”
“I’m really thankful she’s a part of this team,” Legette-Jack added. “Now we just gotta get the success that she’s accustomed to.”
Winning has followed Phelia everywhere she’s gone. At Mount Notre Dame High School (Ohio), Phelia won 72 consecutive games as a starter and three state championships. Mount Notre Dame head coach Scott Rogers called Phelia “probably the most athletically gifted player” they’ve had.
So, Phelia piled up Division I offers as a four-star recruit and the No. 28 overall player in the 2021 class. She stayed close to her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, choosing Michigan.
Phelia was immediately thrown into the fire with the Wolverines, averaging nearly 23 minutes per game as a freshman. Michigan made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, and Phelia started all four games of the Wolverines’ Elite Eight run.
Michigan’s Sweet 16 matchup with South Dakota was Phelia’s fondest memory. The squads were deadlocked at 48 points with 30 seconds left, and the Wolverines had an inbound play from the sideline. Phelia said she wanted to sit in the corner and avoid the action. She didn’t want to be the one to mess up what Michigan’s seniors had started.
Instead, her teammates told her she was getting the ball. Phelia reluctantly received the pass, drove down the lane with her right hand and laid the ball off the glass. It ultimately sent the Wolverines to their first-ever Elite Eight.
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At Syracuse, Legette-Jack will look to Phelia in similar moments. A major part of building back Phelia’s confidence is redeveloping her offensive game.
Phelia’s always been known for her perimeter defense, Rogers said, but she assumed a more offensive role with Michigan, leading to her back-to-back seasons averaging over 16 points. However, surrounded by All-American talent at Texas, she didn’t have as much offensive freedom with the Longhorns.
She’s also focused on expanding her game beyond the arc. Phelia shot nearly 42% from 3 in her sophomore year at Michigan but 32.1% on almost four attempts per game as a junior. Those numbers regressed in her short stint at Texas, as Phelia went 2-of-16 from 3 in her eight games.
To return to her Michigan form, Phelia’s been in the gym early in the morning and late at night. SU assistant coach Caleb Samson said he walked into the gym around 10 p.m. one Saturday night and saw Phelia getting up shots on the gun machine. He had to manually unplug it for Phelia to go home.
That work ethic mixed with Phelia’s proven collegiate resume prompted her teammates to name her one of SU’s team captains in September.
“Laila’s been to the Final Four, the Elite Eight, she knows what it takes to get there, and that’s where we want to be,” junior guard Sophie Burrows said. “From the moment (Phelia and fellow captain Dominique Darius) stepped on the court, it was pretty obvious they were gonna be good leaders.”
Phelia will need time to rediscover her game after spending a year on the bench. The goggles she now has to wear on the court are a constant reminder of her misfortune over the past year and a half. But they also symbolize a new era for the guard who once lit up the Big Ten.
Phelia said this year is about proving to herself she can overcome the obstacle hurled her way last fall. And so far, she’s been successful in doing so.
A few weeks ago, Phelia called her mom to give an update on her preseason progress. Her words were exactly what she — and Syracuse — wants to hear:
“I’m feeling like my old self again.”
Photograph courtesy of SU Athletics
Published on October 30, 2025 at 12:01 am