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The Leetown, Miss., native Joye Lee-McNelis was named The University of Southern Mississippi's fourth women's basketball coach on May 24, 2004. Lee-McNelis, one of the school's all-time basketball greats, was the fifth Lady Eagle to score more than 1,000 points in a career. The basketball program was given a new face and a new name to lead the Black and Gold through a new era of accomplishment in athleticism. There is something to be said about the return of an athlete to his or her alma mater ... loyalty and passion. With the appointment of Joye Lee-McNelis as the fourth Lady Eagles head coach, it was simple to see just what was missing from the winning equation. Lee-McNelis has done an outstanding job of directing the fortunes of Southern Miss basketball. In just four years at the helm, McNelis has made strides that athletic departments can only dream. With feats ranging from increased fan support to the most wins since 2000, her presence has formed a complete, well-rounded women's basketball program that is putting Southern Miss on the map. "The Lady Eagle basketball program has seen tremendous accomplishments in four years," McNelis said. "The passion that I possess as a head coach for this program, and this University has created a new-found attitude toward Lady Eagle Basketball. The energy, the excitement and the attitude has changed drastically, and the results have proven this." Last season, the program landed its first, first-team all-conference selection (Pauline Love) since the inception of Conference USA, recorded the first 20-win season since 1995-96, and advanced to postseason play for the first time since 1999-2000. In addition, had two players earned player of the week honors (Love and Stephanie Helgeson). The 2006-07 team proved to be the turning point, as a short-handed team recorded a15-win season, landed three players on C-USA All-Conference teams (Amber Eugene, Kendra Reed and Lauren Pitman), and three others were named C-USA Players of the Week (Eugene, Reed and Emer Foley). With a combined effort of McNelis's door-to-door, person-to-person approach to promoting and the team's successes, Lady Eagle basketball has seen an increase in attendance every year she has been here, including increased season ticket sales and memberships in the "The Wings Club." McNelis also displays a passion for a more important aspect of succeeding in sports ... succeeding in the classroom. For the second time, two Lady Eagle players were named to the C-USA All-Academic team (Kendra Reed and Liz Biland). In 2006-07, Southern Miss placed two players on the Academic All-District by ESPN The Magazine (Reed and Kristin Chaney), two were named to C-USA All-Academic teams (Reed and Chaney), five received C-USA Commissioner's List honors (Reed, Patterson, Chaney, Liz Biland and Rachel Manuel), and Chaney was named C-USA Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year. Putting accomplishments aside, the first three seasons have truly been a learning experience, and McNelis and her staff believe they are headed in the right direction and continue to diligently work to shape the program with strong recruiting. Evidence of improvement was seen following the 2005-06 season, in which the squad posted a 14-15 record, a plus-five game turnaround. She accomplished that feat with only one junior college transfer, two sophomores and five freshmen. The Lady Eagles finished in a tie for third in the conference with a 10-6 record. McNelis returned to her alma mater after 13 seasons as head coach at the University of Memphis, where she compiled a 229-156 record. She was only the second coach in Lady Tiger history and took over a program that had won just 21 games over a three-year span, including back-to-back 6-22 finishes. In just three seasons, McNelis turned the Memphis program into a winner and over 12 years, she helped the Lady Tiger program gain national recognition when in 1999 Memphis entered the AP Top 25 for the first time in 14 years. McNelis is credited with leading her Memphis teams to four-consecutive conference championships, five-consecutive 20-win seasons and eight postseason tournament appearances. She coached 14 all-conference players and has two former players currently playing in the WNBA. Over those 13 seasons, 32 players who have competed in the program have completed their degrees. After her first five seasons at Memphis, McNelis was tabbed as one of the nation's "Coaches on the Rise" by Basketball Times. During McNelis' tenure, she coached three conference newcomers of the year and two conference players of the year. Among her top recruiting highlights is Tamika Whitmore, who finished her career at Memphis as the second all-time leading scorer in school history. As a senior, Whitmore was named to five different All-American teams. Prior to her stint at Memphis, McNelis spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Miss (1986-91). The 1987 and 1990 squads won the Metro Conference tournament championship. The 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1989-90 teams each participated in the NCAA Tournament, with the 1989-90 team advancing to the second round. During her tenure, those teams posted a record of 103-47 and her last two seasons those teams posted a 53-10 record, including the most wins in a season with 27 in 1989-90 and finished the season ranked in the Top 20. "I believe that you can have an interest in a lot of things, but you have to have passion," McNelis said. "I'm very passionate about being the head coach here, and I'm passionate about the job. I think it's bigger than basketball." While at Southern Miss, McNelis was responsible for recruiting. Several of her classes were ranked in the Top 10 nationally. She also had a hand in recruiting Janice Felder, a 1994 Kodak All-American and the most decorated Lady Eagle in the program's history. Prior to accepting the Southern Miss position, McNelis spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Southwest Texas State University, where she served as recruiting coordinator and was co-director of the summer basketball camp. McNelis' accomplishments do not end with basketball. While at Memphis, she became one of Memphis' most informative and motivational speakers. She served as chairman for the 1997 and 1998 March of Dimes Walk America, which reached an all-time high in charitable donations. McNelis also helped raise money for LeBonheur Children's Medical Center, as well as conducted clinics throughout the city of Memphis. She was honored by the Kiwanis Club with the George F. Hixon Fellowship Award. Community involvement does not stop with McNelis, as she believes it is important for her players to be active in the community as well. During the 2005-06 season, McNelis and her Lady Eagles performed more community service than any of the other athletic teams, receiving the Southern Miss Athletic Department's Community Service Award. Following Hurricane Katrina, McNelis delivered supplies and goods to the people in her community of Leetown. Other community service projects include the Extraordinary Eagles, honoring elementary and middle school students at two of the Lady Eagles basketball games for academic achievement. The Lady Eagles and coaches worked as "celebrity waitresses" at Chesterfield's Restaurant to raise money for breast cancer. McNelis stepped out the box and went back to her roots of being a cowgirl, as she rode a mechanical bull that raised in excess of $7,000 for the Hattiesburg's Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. Her team had numerous speaking engagements at the local elementary and middle schools about the benefits of staying in school. McNelis, her staff and players also held several free clinics for faculty and staff children and Upward Basketball. She was a four-year starter for the Lady Eagles from 1980-84, helping the program post a 73-28 record. She helped Southern Miss advance to postseason play for the first time in 1981, when the Lady Eagles advanced to the second round of the AIAW Region Tournament. McNelis currently ranks among the top 10 leaders in seven statistical categories, including sixth in all-time scoring with 1,512 points, eighth in scoring average (14.0 ppg), field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted and free throw percentage. She had an outstanding career, represented by her induction into the Southern Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. She was a four-year letterwinner in basketball at Hancock North Central High School. Her teams went to the state tournament four-straight years and twice won state titles. She still reigns as the school's all-time leading scorer. On April 19, 1993, McNelis' high school jersey No. 14 was retired, along with Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre. That day was declared Joye Lee-McNelis-Brett Favre Day by Hancock County. McNelis is married to Dennis McNelis, and the couple has two children, Whitney, a freshman on the Lady Eagle team, and Connor (15).
McNelis at a Glance
HOMETOWN
HIGH SCHOOL
ALMA MATER
COLLEGIATE PLAYING EXPERIENCE
COACHING EXPERIENCE
COACHING HONORS
McNELIS' YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
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