Syracuse women’s basketball: Kayla Alexander’s jersey to be raised in the Dome this season

Alexander will join FLJ as the only WBB players to have their jersey number up in the Dome.

One of the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team’s most productive players in program history will have their jersey hung in the JMA Wireless Dome, joining an exclusive list of Syracuse Athletics legends.

Kayla Alexander, who is currently the only player in team history to ever reach 2,000 points, will have the honor of becoming just the second Syracuse women’s basketball player to have their jersey be raised in the Dome — joining current head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

The ceremony will take place during halftime on Dec. 8 when the Orange will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the team’s ACC opener, the program announced.

“Well first I am beyond honored. It’s still so surreal to me because in my head I’ve always believed that people who get their jerseys in the rafters, like those are legendary people and to me I’m just Kayla,” Alexander said in a news release from SU Athletics. “The fact that I am the second women’s basketball player is a huge honor that I am so incredibly grateful for.”

Alexander held down the center position at Syracuse for four years and 140 career games, 101 of which were starts. She finished with averages of 14.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game across her entire tenure with the Orange (2009-10 to 2012-13).

Alexander peaked in 2012-13, becoming one of just a handful of players in program history to earn All-American honors when she was named Honorable Mention. She was also named to the All-Big East first-team twice (2011, 2013), the All-Big East second-team in 2012 and once on the Big East All-Freshman Team in 2010.

Her time with Syracuse coincided with the program’s final seasons before SU jumped from the Big East to the ACC. The Orange finished with at least 22 wins in all four years Alexander was on the team and peaked in 2013 with a 24-8 record and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, then just the program’s fifth tournament bid ever. Syracuse was 96-44 with Alexander on the team.

Alexander remains Syracuse’s career leader in blocks, field goals, free throws made and free throws attempted. She is also tied all-time for most games played in program history.

Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

After her time with Syracuse, Alexander was picked No. 8 overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars. Alexander is still just the sixth player in program history to ever be drafted and went second-highest all time.

Since then, she spent time between the WNBA and overseas in Europe. Alexander is currently expected to play in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto in Spain. She is also a two-time Olympian — Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 — with the Canadian national team.

Major congrats to Alexander on another historic milestone.