Southern Miss women’s basketball legend Janice Felder passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Felder, 55, was instrumental in building Southern Miss’ reputation in women’s basketball during her four-year career under Coach Kay James. Felder had no trouble drawing national attention, earning First Team Kodak All-America honors as a senior in 1994 — the highest honor awarded to a player each season. She remains the only Golden Eagle or Lady Golden Eagle to receive this recognition.
Felder is a member of the M-Club Hall of Fame and the Southern Miss Legends Club. During her playing days, she was selected to the All-Metro Conference First Team four times, was named the 1991 Metro Conference Rookie of the Year, earned three Metro All-Tournament Team selections, and became one of only two players to win three Metro Conference Player of the Year honors. Felder truly was a standout player — and the greatest representative Metro Conference women’s basketball has ever seen.
Felder, who hailed from Magnolia, Mississippi, had a historic senior season at South Pike High School before beginning her freshman campaign at Southern Miss. In her senior season, Felder averaged 19 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. She left high school as the second all-time leading scorer with 3,150 points. She was also named to The Clarion Ledger’s All-State First Team, as well as a Third Team Parade All-American and Street & Smith’s All-American.
As a freshman at Southern Miss in the 1990-91 season, Felder immediately made an impact. She hit the ground running, earning Metro Conference Freshman of the Year honors, which also secured her a spot on the All-Metro First Team after averaging 18.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. In her sophomore year, as teams began planning to stop her, she elevated her game to 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She won the 1992 Metro Player of the Year award and earned another All-Metro First Team selection. She also received honorable mention All-America honors from Kodak and was named a Second Team All-American by Women’s Basketball News Service. Between her freshman and sophomore seasons, Felder scored 1,121 points and ranked in the top 10 of seven different career categories despite playing only 58 games.
In her junior year as a Lady Golden Eagle, Felder averaged a double-double with 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. By doing so, she became the third player in Metro Conference history to repeat as Player of the Year, joining Cheryl Cook and Martha Parker. She was also named a District VI Kodak All-American, received honorable mention All-America honors from Kodak, and was named a Third Team All-American by AWSF Fast Break Magazine.
Felder’s senior year could go down as one of the greatest in Southern Miss history. Although her averages dipped slightly to 18.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, she led the Lady Golden Eagles to their best finish ever — the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. She also scored in double figures in 28 games.
Felder ended her career at Southern Miss as the greatest player in program history, finishing as the all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, free throws made and attempted, and scoring average. She ranked second in blocks, field goals attempted, and rebound average, as well as third in field goal percentage, fifth in steals, and fifth in free throw percentage.
Felder is the only women’s athlete at Southern Miss to have her jersey retired. In her final regular-season game at Reed Green Coliseum, the ceremony was held and the banner was raised alongside those of the coaches who influenced her career — Joye Lee-McNelis and Kay James. Felder also has a road on campus named in her honor, Felder Place.
After her playing days, Felder briefly played overseas and later joined the ABL startup Richmond Rage. Upon returning to the United States, she coached at Jones College before returning to Hattiesburg to serve as an assistant coach. She later returned home to South Pike High, where she served as head coach until retiring from coaching in 2016. Felder went on to teach at Eva Gordon Upper Elementary until her retirement.
