Syracuse University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack has added Caleb Samson and Danayla Odom-West to her staff for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Samson joins the Orange as the Video Coordinator/Assistant Coach after a year at Saint Joseph’s where he served as the Director of Scouting and Video Operations. Odom-West moves to the women’s basketball office as the Director of Basketball Operations after working as an academic coordinator at Syracuse since 2021. Additionally, Amber Moore has moved into an assistant coach role after serving the previous three seasons on Legette-Jack’s staff as Director of Operations and Khyreed Carter, who assumed the role of recruiting coordinator prior to last season, takes on the role of Assistant Head Coach for 2024-25.
“Caleb’s intensity of purpose is what attracted our staff to him,” Legette-Jack said. “He was a GA at Illinois where he helped develop student-athletes and he was the video coordinator at Saint Joseph’s helping their program reach higher heights. All his contacts echo the same sentiments regarding Coach Samson: he’s a hard worker, has great attention to detail, he’s often the first one in and the last to leave and always finds a way to get the work done. Please help me welcome Caleb Samson to our Orange family.”
Samson, a Brooklyn, New York, helped Saint Joseph’s to the A-10 Championship game this past season. While at SJU he oversaw the recording and analysis of game footage, practices, and player workouts. He worked on athlete development, specifically the perimeter players. He managed recruiting mailings, calls, and on-campus visits for the Hawks.
Saint Joseph’s went 24-10 overall and 12-6 in the A-10 Conference this season. Two Hawks earned First Team All-Atlantic-10 honors while one earned Second Team recognition. The Hawks reached the postseason defeating UAlbany in the opening round of the WBIT before losing 62-60 to #4 seed Villanova.
Prior to Saint Joseph’s, Samson spent two years as a graduate assistant at Illinois where he assisted with player development, scouting, game planning, recruiting and player support for the women’s basketball team under Shauna Green’s guidance. In his two seasons with the Illini, the team reached the 2023 NCAA First Four and won the WBIT Championship in 2024.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for women’s basketball at Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas. While at Sterling, Samson worked with both the guards and forwards on skill development, developed and executed recruiting strategy and campus visits. Sterling won the KCAC Tournament Championship and reached the NAIA Tournament, had a WBCA All-American in Bailey Bangert as well as three all-conference players in his lone year with the Warriors.
Samson graduated with degrees from Wake Tech Community College and Urbana University before earning master’s degrees in strategic brand communication and business management at Illinois.
“Danayla is such a huge get for our program,” Legette-Jack said. “At Baylor she worked her way up to head manager with responsibilities of assisting the Director of Basketball Operations at Baylor. During her time there, Baylor won the national championship. Her goal was to return to basketball and work as a Director of Operations. Our priorities align together because she is hardworking, passionate and is a natural winner. Please help us welcome Danayla to our women’s basketball family.”
Odom-West returns to her basketball roots after serving student-athletes from the academic side of college athletics. Since 2021 she has worked as an Academic Coordinator at Syracuse working with a variety of sports most recently including football, women’s soccer, and women’s rowing.
She was a women’s basketball team manager at Baylor under former head coach Kim Mulkey from 2016-2020. While at Baylor, Odom-West assisted the coaching staff in daily operations including practice preparation, inventory management and equipment organization. She was on the sidelines for four-consecutive Big12 Conference championships and the 2019 national championship.
She has experience in all facets of program operations, including coordinating travel and transportation, creating team itineraries and training student-managers. While at Baylor she assisted the team’s Director of Operations as a visiting team coordinator for NCAA First and Second Round games in Waco.
Odom-West was a three-sport athlete at Northeast High School playing basketball, golf, and tennis. The Clarksville, Tennessee, native earned her Bachelor of Arts from Baylor in 2020 and received a Master of Science in Education at the University of Miami in 2021.
She is an active member of both NACDA and Women Leaders in Sports while serving as a Syracuse University Community Standards Procedural Advisor.
The additions of Samson and Odom-West complete the coaching staff for the upcoming season. Natasha Adair was named the new associate head coach last week while Moore elevated into assistant coach duties last month after being the program’s Director of Operations since Legette-Jack arrived on campus in 2022. Moore spent one year as Director of Operations at Buffalo with Legette-Jack before making the move east down I-90. Prior to her role in operations, Moore was an assistant coach at Canisus, Houston Baptist and Saint Leo University. She was a WBCA Thirty Coaches Under 30 recipients in 2018 and was a standout student-athlete at Illinoi graduating as the program’s all-time leader in three-point field goals.
https://cuse.com/news/2025/6/4/womens-basketball-womens-basketball-announces-staff-changest
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