Joye Lee-McNelis, a former head coach of Southern Miss women’s basketball, was posthumously inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class, the league announced Thursday.
McNelis coached for 27 seasons in Conference USA, at Memphis and Southern Miss, earning 231 league wins. That total remains the most in conference history for any men’s or women’s basketball coach, according to the league.
The induction adds to a long list of honors for McNelis, who died June 24, 2025, after an eight-year battle with stage four lung cancer. She was previously inducted into the Southern Miss M-Club Alumni Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame in 2025.
Named Conference USA Coach of the Year twice, in 2014 and 2017, McNelis led her teams to six league championships. She played a key role in establishing Conference USA, joining the league at its founding in 1995 as the head coach at Memphis State, which became Memphis. Her Memphis teams won four league trophies in the first three seasons and six consecutive division titles.
Returning to her alma mater in 2004, McNelis rebuilt Southern Miss into a conference contender. Her teams advanced to the league championship game four times during her 18 seasons coaching in C-USA. Over her career, she coached 13 players who played professionally and saw 11 teams make postseason appearances. Her accolades include two C-USA Player of the Year awards, six All-Conference USA first-team selections, and numerous other honors.
McNelis was also active off the court, serving as a conference representative on the national stage and working closely with league leadership to promote women’s basketball. She was the league’s coaching captain and a prominent figure in the growth of the sport within Conference USA.
She joins other inductees in the 2026 class, which is the eighth group to be honored in the league’s Hall of Fame. She is the second former Southern Miss athlete or coach inducted, alongside pitcher Nick Sandlin, class of 2025. The league’s Hall of Fame Committee and Athletics Directors select and vote on nominees annually, with a minimum of one and a maximum of five inductees per year.
