HATTIESBURG — A Southern Miss sports legend has died.

Joye Lee-McNelis, who was part of the USM women’s basketball program as player and coach for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday following a long battle with cancer. She was 63.

McNelis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, but continued to coach until retiring at the end of the 2024-25 season.

“We’ll forever cherish the life of Coach McNelis and all she gave to Southern Miss and her Lady Eagles,” Southern Miss posted on X. “Her story was an inspiration to countless people around the world.”

McNelis played or coached in more than 1,000 games at Southern Miss. The native of Leetown, Miss., played at the school from 1980-84 and ranks in the top 10 on its career scoring list. She later served as an assistant coach from 1986-91, and then as head coach from 2004-25.

In a 34-year head coaching career that also included a 13-year run at Memphis, she won more than 550 games and retired as one of the game’s greatest coaches. Her teams made 14 postseason appearances.

Lee-McNelis is a member of the Southern Miss Legends Club; the Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame; the 2025 USA TODAY Mississippi Woman of the Year; and, most recently, an inductee to the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame.

Lee-McNelis was first diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2017. The cancer returned in 2021, again in 2023, and most recently in 2025.

Over the last eight years, her battle with cancer showed her spirit in the face of the adversity and served as an inspiration to countless individuals around the country under the #McNelisStrong banner. In 2024 the U.S. Basketball Writers Association honored her with the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award.

“At the age of 15, I knew I wanted to play college basketball at Southern Miss,” Lee-McNelis told the Hattiesburg American in February. “And at age 62, I’m still living my dream. Not many people can say that. There’s a part of me that smiles inside when I’m thinking of where I am in my life, that I’m still getting to do what my dream was when I was 15 years old.”

In lieu of flowers and in honor of her fight against lung cancer, the family asks for donations to her personal charity, the Forrest General Patient Navigation Fund. Friends and family interested in sharing their memories of Lee-McNelis, including photos, can email mcnelismemories@yahoo.com.

Visitation will take place on Friday, June 27, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Temple Baptist Church, 5220 Old Highway 11, in Hattiesburg. A funeral service will be held Saturday, June 28, at 1:30 p.m. at Temple Baptist as well, followed by a graveside service at Lee’s Chapel Baptist Church No. 2, 27015 Leetown Road in Picayune.