Joye Nell Lee-McNelis (1997) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Joye Nell Lee-McNelis

Induction:
1997

Joye Nell Lee-McNelis is recognized as one of the school greatest basketball players the school has ever produced and her success as an assistant coach with the Lady Golden Eagles helped move the program into the national limelight.
   Although Joye could have chosen almost any college and university to further her basketball career, she decided to become a Lady Golden Eagle and help Coach Kay James turn the Southern Miss program into one of the best in the country and that is exactly what she did. As a four-year starter for the Lady Golden Eagles Lee-McNelis scored 1,510 points, the fifth highest total in school history.
   The four teams on which she played in her career posted a record of 73-38 and saw the team do things that they had never done before. As a freshman she helped lead the team into the AIAW regional tournament for the first time ever before finally losing in the second round.
   The 1981-82 team advanced into the National Invitation Tournament in Amarillo, Texas as the team continued to gain national attention.
   The 1982-83 and 1983-84 team both played in the Metro Conference, the first ever league affiliation for women’s basketball and Lee now a veteran on the team helped make the school transition a smooth one as the Lady Eagles immediately became of one the conference’s best teams.
   Her senior year featured one of the most exciting games in Southern Miss history as Joye scored a career high 37 points in leading USM to a 117-103 win over UAB in Green Coliseum.
   Her exciting style of play, her long range shooting, her thrilling drives to the basketball and get in your face defensive style, began to draw people in record numbers to the Coliseum and made her even today one of the most popular players in Southern Miss history.
   Joye’s connection to Southern Miss certainly didn’t end with her graduation from Southern Miss. She did leave Southern Miss for two seasons to serve as an assistant coach at Southwest Texas State.
   From there she returned to Southern Miss as an assistant to Kay James and five season partnership as coaches that had begun years before as coach-player. As an assistant she helped guide the Lady Eagles to a 103-47, with the 1986-87 and 1989-90 teams winning the Metro Conference Championship and the 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1989-90 teams reaching the NCAA tournament.
   As a key recruiter for the Lady Eagles during that time Lee-McNelis added some of the players that would help the team maintain its success on into the ’90s.