Pressure on Legette-Jack to produce results

Exposure. Female athletes and supporters have been asking for it for years. The Big Ten Network is giving it to them.\nMajor television companies won’t miss out on the advertising revenue for long. And with basketball season around the corner, the names of greatness, such as Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, will no doubt gain more attention for the sport. \nAccompanying this great exposure is the fans’ desire to see their teams succeed. Here at IU, we are accustomed to having a basketball legacy that rivals the most storied programs in NCAA history. With coverage devoted to women’s athletics on the rise, Hoosier fans may begin to hold the women’s basketball team to the same expectations as the men’s team – rightfully so given the name of the university attached. Living up to the crimson and cream tradition is no easy task, but IU will head into this season with high hopes.\nWhether those hopes are realized will depend on a multitude of factors – but above all else, the pressure is on second-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.\nLegette-Jack was named IU’s head coach before last season and immediately pleased fans, opening her inaugural season with five wins and 11 wins in the first 13 games – all in non-conference play. However, as is the case with any sport played in the Big Ten, the conference schedule – a long, grueling, hard-fought stretch of games with some of the biggest powerhouses in the NCAA – proved too much for IU. The Hoosiers manage just six wins in 16 games, including a five-game losing streak from Jan. 11 to Jan. 28. Two of those losses came against rival Purdue, a Big Ten tournament winner and elite eight qualifier in the NCAA tournament.\nThe second Big Ten season for Legette-Jack and company will be similar as they face Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State – the top three finishers in 2006-2007 – twice. \nHopefully, a year under her belt as IU head coach will give Legette-Jack some experience and the ability to compete with the Big Ten’s major programs. However, as always in Big Ten competition, the ultimate success of the IU women’s basketball team will come down to the players’ ability to execute. With six freshmen joining the team, Legette-Jack will be faced with the task of teaching fundamentals and teamwork, two factors that mark victors in Big Ten play. Luckily for the IU coach, the Hoosiers already have in place a player who has shown the ability to be a floor leader and a major threat for opponents. \nNikki Smith, the team’s only returning senior, will have the task of leading the Hoosiers into battle against some of the toughest teams in the nation. Leading the team last season in points per game and minutes played, Smith started all 33 games for the Hoosiers and experienced the high and low points of the season firsthand. Legette-Jack would do well to ensure that Smith is the focal point of her team.\nLegette-Jack has her work cut out for her entering her second season. The Big Ten will test her merit to its fullest, and her ability to weather the storm will determine the respect with which fans mention IU women’s basketball. While this is a daunting task for any one person to shoulder, the benefits that success would bring should not be forgotten.