The Seniors That Shaped Us
3/11/2025 12:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Georgia Woolley, Kyra Wood, Saniaa Wilson, Izabel Varejão, Dominique Camp and Lexi McNabb walked off Jim Boeheim Court at the JMA Wireless Dome for the last time in a Syracuse uniform on March 2. Four of the six were members of the first team head coach Felisha Legette-Jack led when she took the reigns in 2022. Camp and Varejão joined a season later and for the last two seasons have helped change the trajectory of Orange women's basketball.
Woolley and Wilson were part of a quartet of University at Buffalo players to follow Coach Jack to her hometown in the first season. Camp was on the 2022 Bulls' MAC Championship squad but spent the 2022-23 season at Toledo, reuniting with her former head coach and teammates a season later. Wood, a Buffalo native joined the Orange after playing her freshman season at Temple and Varejão elected to finish her playing career at Syracuse having two years of eligibility remaining after graduating from Michigan.
The group was part of moments that will be remembered forever at Syracuse, including the program's first win over Notre Dame in South Bend, nationally ranked wins and the first postseason and NCAA Tournament win with Coach Jack.
Lexi McNabb was one of two freshmen brought in three years ago. In May, she will earn a degree in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises from Syracuse becoming the third McNabb to graduate from SU. The daughter of legendary Syracuse and NFL quarterback Donovan and Raquel 'Roxi', once the all-time assists leader in Syracuse women's basketball program history, McNabb was born to be Orange.
"Syracuse has literally been a part of my life since I was born," McNabb said. "So the opportunity to go here and say I went here, it means a lot. I want to be remembered as the one [teammate] that was always there whenever anybody needed them."
After three seasons, McNabb is hanging up her SU jersey to pursue a dual master's degree at Syracuse next year.
"This is the best university. I love my school; I love my people. Syracuse University is where it is at. You can come here and do anything, and the University is going to have an alumni base that can get you to where you want to be."
Camp, an entrepreneur and founder of Camp Collective; her personal clothing brand, will finish her master's degree in sports venue and event management this spring.Â
"With Syracuse, you're going to have many connections to be able to begin your life outside of sport," Camp said reflecting on her time at SU.
Camp missed the entire 2023-24 season due to a torn ACL in a preseason and was an asset on the Orange bench while being sidelined. This season, she led the Orange in assists per game and started in 22 of Syracuse's 30 games.
After earning her degree in three years at Michigan, Varejão planned to step away from basketball. But with two years of eligibility on the table, she started feeling like there was more left in the tank and decided to attend Syracuse where she could not only better prepare herself for a professional career at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, but to reconnect with the game she loved.
"This place has given me so many opportunities to prove myself on and off the court," Varejão said. "It has been amazing, like a refresh, rising from the ashes like a Phoenix."
The culture this season's seniors created at Syracuse will be cultivated for years to come. Fun, free and familiar is the way they played and lived every day.
"One thing I'll miss about my teammates is the laughter," said Rochester native Saniaa Wilson. "I've actually never met funnier people ever."
The ability to play at a high level for a coach like Legette-Jack and close to home was a huge draw for senior Kyra Wood.
"This is as close as a hometown that I'll get," Wood said about playing for Syracuse. "Having my family in the crowd, and being able to watch my niece grow up, and be there for her and have a relationship with her was my biggest priority coming here."
One thing for sure is that they will forever be Orange tied to not just the University but the community.
Leading scorer Georgia Woolley said, "It just means that you are always playing for something bigger than yourself," when asked what it means to represent Syracuse University. "Obviously, I play for myself, my family and my teammates, but just knowing that the broader Syracuse community is who you are representing when you have that 'Block S' on it just means even more."
Though their time in Orange has come to an end, the six seniors that shaped the next generation of Syracuse women's basketball will be remembered through the halls of the JMA Wireless Dome and Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center for years to come.
For more on Syracuse women's basketball, follow the Orange on social media @CuseWBB.
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Woolley and Wilson were part of a quartet of University at Buffalo players to follow Coach Jack to her hometown in the first season. Camp was on the 2022 Bulls' MAC Championship squad but spent the 2022-23 season at Toledo, reuniting with her former head coach and teammates a season later. Wood, a Buffalo native joined the Orange after playing her freshman season at Temple and Varejão elected to finish her playing career at Syracuse having two years of eligibility remaining after graduating from Michigan.
The group was part of moments that will be remembered forever at Syracuse, including the program's first win over Notre Dame in South Bend, nationally ranked wins and the first postseason and NCAA Tournament win with Coach Jack.
Lexi McNabb was one of two freshmen brought in three years ago. In May, she will earn a degree in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises from Syracuse becoming the third McNabb to graduate from SU. The daughter of legendary Syracuse and NFL quarterback Donovan and Raquel 'Roxi', once the all-time assists leader in Syracuse women's basketball program history, McNabb was born to be Orange.
"Syracuse has literally been a part of my life since I was born," McNabb said. "So the opportunity to go here and say I went here, it means a lot. I want to be remembered as the one [teammate] that was always there whenever anybody needed them."
After three seasons, McNabb is hanging up her SU jersey to pursue a dual master's degree at Syracuse next year.
"This is the best university. I love my school; I love my people. Syracuse University is where it is at. You can come here and do anything, and the University is going to have an alumni base that can get you to where you want to be."
Camp, an entrepreneur and founder of Camp Collective; her personal clothing brand, will finish her master's degree in sports venue and event management this spring.Â
"With Syracuse, you're going to have many connections to be able to begin your life outside of sport," Camp said reflecting on her time at SU.
Camp missed the entire 2023-24 season due to a torn ACL in a preseason and was an asset on the Orange bench while being sidelined. This season, she led the Orange in assists per game and started in 22 of Syracuse's 30 games.
After earning her degree in three years at Michigan, Varejão planned to step away from basketball. But with two years of eligibility on the table, she started feeling like there was more left in the tank and decided to attend Syracuse where she could not only better prepare herself for a professional career at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, but to reconnect with the game she loved.
"This place has given me so many opportunities to prove myself on and off the court," Varejão said. "It has been amazing, like a refresh, rising from the ashes like a Phoenix."
The culture this season's seniors created at Syracuse will be cultivated for years to come. Fun, free and familiar is the way they played and lived every day.
"One thing I'll miss about my teammates is the laughter," said Rochester native Saniaa Wilson. "I've actually never met funnier people ever."
The ability to play at a high level for a coach like Legette-Jack and close to home was a huge draw for senior Kyra Wood.
"This is as close as a hometown that I'll get," Wood said about playing for Syracuse. "Having my family in the crowd, and being able to watch my niece grow up, and be there for her and have a relationship with her was my biggest priority coming here."
One thing for sure is that they will forever be Orange tied to not just the University but the community.
Leading scorer Georgia Woolley said, "It just means that you are always playing for something bigger than yourself," when asked what it means to represent Syracuse University. "Obviously, I play for myself, my family and my teammates, but just knowing that the broader Syracuse community is who you are representing when you have that 'Block S' on it just means even more."
Though their time in Orange has come to an end, the six seniors that shaped the next generation of Syracuse women's basketball will be remembered through the halls of the JMA Wireless Dome and Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center for years to come.
For more on Syracuse women's basketball, follow the Orange on social media @CuseWBB.
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