Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse women’s basketball may have landed its next star guard off a Final Four team.
Texas-transfer Laila Phelia intends to sign with Syracuse, according to a report from On3.
Phelia would arrive as the biggest offseason acquisition yet for coach Felisha Legette-Jack after spending one injury-plagued year at Texas that sidelined her for most of the 2024-25 season.
Prior to playing at Texas, Phelia led Michigan in scoring during the 2023-24 season and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Michigan guard Laila Phelia plays during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)AP
She transferred to Texas and was expected to play a key role for a team that advanced to the Final Four last month before losing to South Carolina.
Phelia’s season was long over by then. She had emergency surgery to fix a detached retina in her left eye last summer.
She returned to the court for the Longhorns’ preseason practices and exhibition opener but dealt with lingering issues from the injury and played in just eight regular-season games.
“I did lose some vision, like my peripheral vision and everything, so giving that time to come back‚” Phelia told the Austin American-Statesman last month ahead of Texas’ appearance in the Final Four.
She last played Dec. 11 and received a medical hardship waiver to allow her to play next season.
Phelia said at the Final Four she was “hyped” about returning to Texas for another year.
She opened her recruitment just before the NCAA’s filing deadline to transfer on April 23.
Two weeks later, Phelia appears headed to Syracuse, where she will be expected to contribute to a backcourt that returns starter Sophie Burrows.
Phelia was ranked No. 28 by ESPN as a recruit coming out of Mount Notre Dame High School in Cincinnati. She was a McDonald’s All-America Game nominee and won a silver medal at the 2023 AmeriCup as part of USA Basketball.
She spent three seasons at Michigan prior to joining Texas.
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