University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Take the Court for First Practice of 2024-25 Season
10/2/2024 7:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Southern Miss' 50th Season Begins in Just 33 Days
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Lady Eagles Take the Court for First Practice of 2024-25 Season
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – With just 33 days until the beginning of the 2024-25 regular season, Southern Miss women's basketball is back on the court and ready to build on its WNIT Super 16 run. The Lady Eagles held their first official practice of the year with the two-hour, 15-minute practice marking the start of head coach Joye Lee-McNelis' 21st year leading the Lady Eagles.
"We return only five players from last year," said McNelis. "After that, it's all new ones. Coming into June, we had no clue what to expect other than what we knew we had in those five. I will tell you, this group has a lot of pieces that can shoot the basketball from long range. I like this team and they like each other. They do a lot of things together and their chemistry is very good. They've worked really, really hard up to this point and I know they'll continue to into the future."
McNelis' program last took the floor as part of the Magnificent Seven's WNIT Super 16 run in March. Since then, the Lady Eagles have signed eight new players in addition to getting Atria Dumas (Houston, Texas / North Shore HS) back from injury. Of the eight signees, five are true freshman out of the high school ranks.
Southern Miss' five freshmen are headlined by the signing of Miss Kentucky Basketball Trinity Rowe (Pikeville, Ky. / Pikeville HS), though each one brings enough to Hattiesburg to compete for playing time this season.
She was the player of the year out of Kentucky and is going to be really special for us," said McNelis. "She just knows how to play. She passes as well with her left hand as she does with her right. She's still making adjustments but she has adjusted the most to the speed of our game out of the freshman class. She is one that will a large amount of playing time as the point guard and at the two because of her ability to shoot the basketball."
"It just really excites me a lot to be coming out to the first practice for us," said Rowe. "I would say our chemistry has built up to this point. We're all excited to get our practice jerseys on and take the next step this season. Our energy and effort out here, it just propels me to play better. The senior leadership that we have are great. They lead us on everything the right way. If I make a mistake, I'm getting corrected by them in the right way. If I'm doing something good, I'm getting hyped up by them just the same."
Southern Miss has four players in their final season of eligibility, led by fifth-year Hub City native Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. / Hattiesburg HS). Already a member of the 1,000-point club, Grayson has a chance to rewrite her own career records as well as a majority of the program's.
"It means a lot just being at home and being able to play in front of my hometown," said Grayson. "I just thankful that I have the opportunity to get better before I go on to wherever is ahead of me for after this. I'm excited to go out there and play with my teammates."
"She is old reliable," said McNelis. "She is such a special young lady. My ultimate goal was to get her to stay home and she chose and has chosen to stay at Southern Miss. She's had unbelievable growth since her freshman year. Back then, she did not want to be touched in the post and was shy with us off the court. She's worked a lot on her ball handling this summer and I think, out of the returners, she's the most improved."
"We just have to have her out there because we're hurting at our center position. Whitney Hart, one of the best players in Louisiana, probably could've started for us at the four and would have helped back up Melyia. Unfortunately, she blew her knee out earlier this summer and had surgery yesterday and that kills us up front. However, Melyia is ready. Her ultimate goal is to win a championship, play in the NCAA Tournament and play at the next level."
A trio of former transfers round out the senior class. Jacorriah Bracey (Drew, Miss. / Ole Miss) and Nyla Jean (Tampa, Fla. / Georgia State) are in their third and second season with Southern Miss this year, respectively, with Bre Sutton (New Orleans, La. / Arkansas State) joining the Lady Eagles this offseason.
Bracey jumped out for a dazzling back half of the 2023-24 season and has become one of the country's best two-way guards. With the roster churn heading into 2024-25, Bracey is next in line to lead the Lady Eagles' scoring efforts and is ready for the challenge.
"I'm really excited that the coaches have put it on me to be sure that everything goes smoothly," said Bracey. "I feel very good with being that kind of leader that has to bring along our freshman and other ones coming up. I'm trying to fill that leadership role that we lost from last year, but I know we'll put our pieces together and have a nice season."
"She's going to have to go get buckets for us," said McNelis. "She's got to. She's worked all summer on that aspect of the game with Connor almost every day because she wants to handle that pressure. We've really challenged her this summer and Connor's done a great job of staying in her ear when she drops her head to make sure she's read to get it up and go. Jacorriah's got to step up, Melyia's got to step up, Nyla's got to step up. They've done a lot more work this summer together outside of practice."
Jean, a true senior from Tampa, Fla., is in line to be the Lady Eagles' primary point guard as she begins her second year in Hattiesburg.
"I'm excited to get to play with these lovely girls one last time," said Jean. "I'm ready to have a better connection with the coaches and staff and take on this next year."
The final senior is first-year Lady Eagle Bre Sutton. Sutton, a native of New Orleans, La., was originally recruited by current Lady Eagle coaches Brooks Donald Williams and Jessica Barber to ULM as a freshman. She then entered the transfer portal where Lady Eagle assistant coach Connor McNelis recruited her to the Red Wolves prior to last season. Now, in her final year of eligibility, Sutton is crucial piece of the Lady Eagle puzzle.
"I'm most excited about just continuing to soar with this group of people," said Sutton. "Our goal is to continue to work on getting to a championship and hanging some banners here."
"Bre Sutton, is tough," said McNelis. "She comes out of a tough area of New Orleans and is just a winner. She wants the ball in her hands for that last shot. She just has that in her blood. She's going to be a real asset offensively and defensively to us."
Sutton's versatility will be a large part of the 2024-25 teams' playing style. McNelis knows the team will look and play differently than her past programs due to its composition and Whitney Hart's injury.
"We'll be undersized a lot of times," said McNelis. "I'm a high-low guy, that's what I've run for 30 years. Well, when Melyia's not in the game, we don't have it. I'm having to stretch myself and my staff this season because we're going to have to change, based on personnel, what we do offensively and defensively. We've worked on that and started a month ago on putting actions in and having them drive and shoot from the right spots.
The Lady Eagles will continue practicing and counting down the days until the start of the season. Fans can get a preview of the squad on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. when Southern Miss hosts Mississippi College for a preseason exhibition at Reed Green Coliseum.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Lady Eagles Take the Court for First Practice of 2024-25 Season
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – With just 33 days until the beginning of the 2024-25 regular season, Southern Miss women's basketball is back on the court and ready to build on its WNIT Super 16 run. The Lady Eagles held their first official practice of the year with the two-hour, 15-minute practice marking the start of head coach Joye Lee-McNelis' 21st year leading the Lady Eagles.
"We return only five players from last year," said McNelis. "After that, it's all new ones. Coming into June, we had no clue what to expect other than what we knew we had in those five. I will tell you, this group has a lot of pieces that can shoot the basketball from long range. I like this team and they like each other. They do a lot of things together and their chemistry is very good. They've worked really, really hard up to this point and I know they'll continue to into the future."
McNelis' program last took the floor as part of the Magnificent Seven's WNIT Super 16 run in March. Since then, the Lady Eagles have signed eight new players in addition to getting Atria Dumas (Houston, Texas / North Shore HS) back from injury. Of the eight signees, five are true freshman out of the high school ranks.
Southern Miss' five freshmen are headlined by the signing of Miss Kentucky Basketball Trinity Rowe (Pikeville, Ky. / Pikeville HS), though each one brings enough to Hattiesburg to compete for playing time this season.
She was the player of the year out of Kentucky and is going to be really special for us," said McNelis. "She just knows how to play. She passes as well with her left hand as she does with her right. She's still making adjustments but she has adjusted the most to the speed of our game out of the freshman class. She is one that will a large amount of playing time as the point guard and at the two because of her ability to shoot the basketball."
"It just really excites me a lot to be coming out to the first practice for us," said Rowe. "I would say our chemistry has built up to this point. We're all excited to get our practice jerseys on and take the next step this season. Our energy and effort out here, it just propels me to play better. The senior leadership that we have are great. They lead us on everything the right way. If I make a mistake, I'm getting corrected by them in the right way. If I'm doing something good, I'm getting hyped up by them just the same."
Southern Miss has four players in their final season of eligibility, led by fifth-year Hub City native Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. / Hattiesburg HS). Already a member of the 1,000-point club, Grayson has a chance to rewrite her own career records as well as a majority of the program's.
"It means a lot just being at home and being able to play in front of my hometown," said Grayson. "I just thankful that I have the opportunity to get better before I go on to wherever is ahead of me for after this. I'm excited to go out there and play with my teammates."
"She is old reliable," said McNelis. "She is such a special young lady. My ultimate goal was to get her to stay home and she chose and has chosen to stay at Southern Miss. She's had unbelievable growth since her freshman year. Back then, she did not want to be touched in the post and was shy with us off the court. She's worked a lot on her ball handling this summer and I think, out of the returners, she's the most improved."
"We just have to have her out there because we're hurting at our center position. Whitney Hart, one of the best players in Louisiana, probably could've started for us at the four and would have helped back up Melyia. Unfortunately, she blew her knee out earlier this summer and had surgery yesterday and that kills us up front. However, Melyia is ready. Her ultimate goal is to win a championship, play in the NCAA Tournament and play at the next level."
A trio of former transfers round out the senior class. Jacorriah Bracey (Drew, Miss. / Ole Miss) and Nyla Jean (Tampa, Fla. / Georgia State) are in their third and second season with Southern Miss this year, respectively, with Bre Sutton (New Orleans, La. / Arkansas State) joining the Lady Eagles this offseason.
Bracey jumped out for a dazzling back half of the 2023-24 season and has become one of the country's best two-way guards. With the roster churn heading into 2024-25, Bracey is next in line to lead the Lady Eagles' scoring efforts and is ready for the challenge.
"I'm really excited that the coaches have put it on me to be sure that everything goes smoothly," said Bracey. "I feel very good with being that kind of leader that has to bring along our freshman and other ones coming up. I'm trying to fill that leadership role that we lost from last year, but I know we'll put our pieces together and have a nice season."
"She's going to have to go get buckets for us," said McNelis. "She's got to. She's worked all summer on that aspect of the game with Connor almost every day because she wants to handle that pressure. We've really challenged her this summer and Connor's done a great job of staying in her ear when she drops her head to make sure she's read to get it up and go. Jacorriah's got to step up, Melyia's got to step up, Nyla's got to step up. They've done a lot more work this summer together outside of practice."
Jean, a true senior from Tampa, Fla., is in line to be the Lady Eagles' primary point guard as she begins her second year in Hattiesburg.
"I'm excited to get to play with these lovely girls one last time," said Jean. "I'm ready to have a better connection with the coaches and staff and take on this next year."
The final senior is first-year Lady Eagle Bre Sutton. Sutton, a native of New Orleans, La., was originally recruited by current Lady Eagle coaches Brooks Donald Williams and Jessica Barber to ULM as a freshman. She then entered the transfer portal where Lady Eagle assistant coach Connor McNelis recruited her to the Red Wolves prior to last season. Now, in her final year of eligibility, Sutton is crucial piece of the Lady Eagle puzzle.
"I'm most excited about just continuing to soar with this group of people," said Sutton. "Our goal is to continue to work on getting to a championship and hanging some banners here."
"Bre Sutton, is tough," said McNelis. "She comes out of a tough area of New Orleans and is just a winner. She wants the ball in her hands for that last shot. She just has that in her blood. She's going to be a real asset offensively and defensively to us."
Sutton's versatility will be a large part of the 2024-25 teams' playing style. McNelis knows the team will look and play differently than her past programs due to its composition and Whitney Hart's injury.
"We'll be undersized a lot of times," said McNelis. "I'm a high-low guy, that's what I've run for 30 years. Well, when Melyia's not in the game, we don't have it. I'm having to stretch myself and my staff this season because we're going to have to change, based on personnel, what we do offensively and defensively. We've worked on that and started a month ago on putting actions in and having them drive and shoot from the right spots.
The Lady Eagles will continue practicing and counting down the days until the start of the season. Fans can get a preview of the squad on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. when Southern Miss hosts Mississippi College for a preseason exhibition at Reed Green Coliseum.
– #McNelis Strong –
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