It had been a quiet offseason period for the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team, but Felisha Legette-Jack was pretty busy this weekend as she landed two transfer portal commitments for next season’s roster.
Former Arizona State forward Journey Thompson and former LSU guard Angelica Velez will join the Orange for the 2024-25 season. In different capacities, both Thompson and Velez will help to refortify Syracuse’s roster amid an offseason where six players from last year’s team departed.
Thompson — a six-foot-three forward who played his first two seasons with the Sun Devils — was the first player from this year’s transfer portal cycle to announce his commitment to the Orange.
She played 44 games across two seasons with Arizona State. After an injury cut his freshman year short, Thompson played 31 games this past season (25 as a starter). She averaged 5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in a year which saw the Sun Devils finish 11-20 overall.
Thompson finished first for Arizona State in rebounds, offensive rebounds and blocks per game and also ranked in the top-five on her team in steals (third) and points per game (fifth) last season.
Thompson will look to provide more depth in the frontcourt following the notable offseason departure of Alyssa Latham. As an incoming junior, she’ll join an experienced frontcourt unit which includes Kyra Wood, Saniaa Wilson and Izabel Varejão. Legette-Jack will be bringing in six-foot-two, four-star class of 2024 recruit Keira Scott into the fold as well.
Not too long after Thompson’s commitment, news quickly broke that Velez would also be transferring to the Orange — a potential diamond in the rough Legette-Jack can hopefully unlock
Velez — a five-foot-seven point guard who played one year for LSU — was the No. 44 overall prospect from the class of 2023, according to ESPN’s 2023 HoopGurlz recruiting rankings. The four-star prospect from New York City played in 23 games for the Tigers under Kim Mulkey, but saw limited playing time on a roster which featured loaded depth at guard. Velez averaged 4.9 minutes per game across 23 games for LSU last season.
Now, she could see more of a consistent role considering Syracuse lost three of its rotation guards from last season’s team — two due to graduation (Dyaisha Fair and Alaina Rice) and one to the transfer portal (Kennedi Perkins). Because of the lack of playing time, it’s hard to project what her ultimate role is, but this is an excellent gamble for Legette-Jack.
Syracuse’s two new transfers also each have multiple years of collegiate eligibility to go. Velez has three years remaining, while Thompson has two.
Just like that, after a wave of departures, Legette-Jack has landed two transfer portal commits. By our account, she can still fill at least one spot on the 2024-25 roster.
We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with all the latest news. In the meantime, here is a quick recap of the Orange’s offseason up to this point:
- Four players from last year’s team entered the transfer portal: Latham (Tennessee), Perkins, Marilena Triantafylli (St. Louis) and Cheyenne McEvans.
- Two players, Fair and Rice, have each used all of their collegiate eligibility. Fair was most recently selected No. 16 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
- Here are the eight returning players for the Orange: Georgia Woolley, Dominique Camp, Wilson, Wood, Lexi McNabb, Varejão, Sophie Burrows and Madeline Potts (redshirt)
- In total, Syracuse is bringing in (as of Sunday night) six new players — two transfers (Thompson and Velez) and four* class of 2024 recruits (Scott, Ka’Shya Hawkins, Olivia Schmitt … and Potts)
