Southern Miss Lady Eagle Basketball Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis was recently named the recipient of the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award. McNelis was bestowed this award by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) after coaching a 20-14 season while battling her third diagnosis of adenocarcinoma.
“I am truly honored to even be mentioned alongside such a great name as Pat Summitt,” Lee-McNelis said on her award.
The award is named after legendary Tennessee Women’s Basketball head coach Pat Summitt, and Lee-McNelis was the 47th recipient of the award after completing her 20th season as the head coach for the Golden Eagles and her 33rd season as a head coach at the Division One level.
Lee-McNelis was first diagnosed with cancer in 2017. After receiving the news that it had recurred for the second time, she began immediate treatment in September of 2023. And she has never shied away from telling the public about her battles with cancer and has even publicized her own diagnosis to uplift others with similar diagnoses.
Southern Miss Lady Eagle Basketball has sported the hashtag #McNelisStrong in support of a coach that defied all odds (and doctor recommendations) to continue coaching through a grim prognosis. Lee-McNelis scheduled her treatment around the season, and although Jack Trosper was promoted to acting head coach throughout the season, Lee-McNelis coached as long as she was physically able to. For her efforts, she only missed one game in the 2023-24 season, and it was not related to her health.
While going through treatment and the season ramping up in November, Lee-McNelis’ father, Louis Dempsey Lee, passed away, and Lee-McNelis had to miss one game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic to assist with preparations for the funeral that would soon follow.
“Joye’s willingness to make public the details of her diagnosis and treatments, her consistent efforts to encourage and support other patients, and the example she has set by continuing to coach her team is an inspiration to us all,” said USBWA executive director Malcolm Moran.
The United States Basketball Writers Association officially recognized Lee-McNelis on Friday in Indianapolis with an awards presentation at the USBWA Awards Banquet. The Pat Summitt Award was named after Summitt in 2012 after her 38th and final season as a head coach. As the 47th recipient of such a high honor, Lee-McNelis’s name is next to Marymont’s Cori Carson, the 1996 winner, Virginia Tech’s Rayna DuBose, the 2003 winner, and Little Rock’s Angelique Francis, the previous winner of the award back in 2023.

“Coach McNelis is an excellent example of the grit that we pride ourselves on at Southern Miss,” Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain commented on her award and her continued battle with cancer. “I am thankful for her leadership on and off the court. Myself and the entire Southern Miss family have been praying for her continued healing. She is truly an inspiration to her team, our department and our university.”
Lee-McNelis led Southern Miss to a 20-14 season, marking the first back to back 20 win seasons since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Her record as the head women’s basketball coach in Hattiesburg is 329-287 and is 558-443 for her overall record as a head coach across her 33 years. Lee-McNelis is one of only 70 coaches in the history of collegiate women’s basketball to win at least 550 games. During the nearly magical run of the “Magnificent Seven” in the WNIT, she coached her 1,000th career game in a home overtime win against Murray State. With just seven players, Southern Miss Lady Eagle Basketball advanced all the way to the Super Sixteen in the WNIT tournament. Through battling cancer, losing her father, and losing all but seven players, Lee-McNelis and the Lady Eagles battled their way through it all.
“I am thankful that the USBWA has recognized me as courageous but believe my faith in God, trust in my doctors, and belief in my wonderful coaching staff allowed me to focus on my own battles off the court this season,” Lee-McNelis said. “To me, the greatest award I have today is being able to wake up each day and continue to coach young women in the game I love.”