Murray State University Athletics
Felton Resigns To Take Position At Central Florida
3/29/2007 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Murray State director of athletics Allen Ward announced that Lady Racer head coach Joi Felton has resigned her position at Murray State to become the women's basketball head coach at the University of Central Florida. Ward said the search for a new women's basketball head coach would begin immediately.
Felton, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., compiled a 54-61 record in her four seasons at Murray State, leading the Lady Racers to a 21-10 record last season, reaching the O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game and attaining a berth in the Women's NIT. The Lady Racers went a team-record 15-5 in the OVC last season, finishing in second place, just a game behind first-place Southeast Missouri State. MSU fell to the Redhawks in the championship game 62-60.
The winning record was the first for the Lady Racers since the 1989-90 season, reaching the championship game for the first time since that season and its first post-season berth since the 1988-89 season. The 21 wins is the second-most in program history.
"I feel excited," Felton said. "I've got mixed emotions, because I'm leaving behind a lot of young ladies who mean a lot to me, and a lot of people I've built great relationships with. I'm just thankful to Murray State for this opportunity. It was my first head coaching position, and I had a lot of people who supported me and were a big part of our success this year. First and foremost, our players -- without them, I wouldn't be in this position, so I'm really thankful for them. I'm very thankful for Allen Ward and our administration for believing in me and being very supportive.
"I'm very proud of the shape our program is in now. I want to see it continue to grow; I'm going to remain excited to look at Murray State's Web site and find out that the young ladies that we brought to this program who have laid the foundation are achieving at even higher levels and attaining higher goals. That's one thing I talked to the team about: I want them to really work hard to do even better than they have, not to be complacent, and take the experience from this year and let it motivate them to go win a championship next year."
Felton became the head coach at Murray State on March 20, 2003, coming to MSU from Clemson, where she served as an assistant coach for one season. Prior to that, she was an assistant coach at Florida for 12 seasons, where she served as the recruiting coordinator for the Gators, bringing in five Kodak All-Americans and six eventual WNBA players. Lady Racer senior Joi Scott is a Kodak All-American finalist.
"I want to thank Joi for her years of service to Murray State University and the Lady Racer basketball program," Ward said. "She is a class act that has taken our program to a new level. I wish her and her family nothing but the best as they make this move to Central Florida. They will always be part of the Racer family.
"As we move forward, it will be important to find a coach who can build upon our recent success. We have a good team returning, which I am sure will attract the highest quality candidates."
