Coach speaks at NAACP banquet

IU women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack talked about the importance of voting while drawing on some lessons from basketball Saturday when the first-year Hoosier coach gave a 15-minute speech at the Monroe County NAACP's Freedom Fund Banquet Dinner.\n"I think that it's not our right; it's our obligation to voice your opinion on what you think that matters," Legette-Jack said in her speech.\nLegette-Jack was the keynote speaker at the event, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's largest annual fundraiser held at Terry's Banquet and Catering in Bloomington. Other speakers at the event included Mayor Mark Kruzan and Monroe County Commissioner Iris Kiesling.\nThe coach also made a commitment to her team's success both on the court and in the classroom, saying that she and her coaching staff would make sure the players had GPAs above 3.0.\n"We're going to graduate them, and we're going to win championships with them," she said to a round of applause.\nLegette-Jack used an anecdote from her high school days to stress the importance of making a choice. She talked about a guidance counselor in high school who strongly discouraged her from going to Syracuse because it would be a difficult experience for her. Legette-Jack said her mother, on the other hand, told her she had put herself in a position to make a choice, and the counselor said she was qualified to go to Syracuse, she should go.\n"Sometimes people in your life are wrong. They make you make those bad choices," Legette-Jack said. "That's why we talk about choice, not chance determines your destiny."\nFor the second year in a row, the Hoosiers will open a season with a new coach. Legette-Jack replaces Sharon Versyp, who left IU after one season to take the head coaching job at her alma mater, Purdue. Legette-Jack made a commitment to staying at IU. \n"This team has been under a lot of duress," Legette-Jack said. "I am the third coach (in three years) for the women's basketball team, and I was asked earlier, 'Are you going to stay?' I don't leave until the job is done."\nAfter the speech, Legette-Jack said that this was her first time working with the NAACP but that she plans to join.\n"I love the cause. I love the fight," Legette-Jack said. "I've been kind of admiring from afar. Now it's time to get in the game."\nAs she makes the commitment to the NAACP, she asked those in attendance at Saturday's banquet to make the same commitment to her team. \n"I am not cocky. I'm just confident that (God) did not bring me to Bloomington to fail," she said. "And if you want to reach, why not strive and reach for the moon? You might just land on a star. \n"We're going after that moon guys and we're going to need your help. Will you join me"