Joi Felton - Women's Basketball Coach - Murray State University Athletics

Joi Felton

Title:
Head Coach

This season may be the season where it all comes together for Murray State head coach Joi Felton.

A nationally acclaimed recruiter as an assistant coach at the University of Florida, Felton has utilized her abilities to bring in some of the best talent from the basketball-rich state of Kentucky and elsewhere, reaching into Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee to bring together the 2006-07 edition of the Lady Racers.

Joi Felton was hired as Murray State’s seventh head coach of the Lady Racers on March 20, 2003, and she has made quite an impact.

The Lady Racers were picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference 2003-04 pre-season poll, but MSU shocked many when it closed out the regular season with four straight wins, taking eight of its last 12 regular-season games to place in a tie for fifth, just one game out of fourth place.

Last season, the Lady Racers took on host Missouri in the championship game of the State Farm Tiger Classic, topped the OVC in scoring (ranked 33rd in Division I) and ranked 14th in the nation with a .756 free-throw percentage.

What has made a difference is Felton’s contagious determination and infectious spirit that has made people inside and outside of Murray sit up and take notice.

“When I came to Murray State, it was easy to see that (former president) Dr. (King) Alexander really wanted to make a commitment to women’s basketball,” Felton said. “I felt like this would be a good opportunity to come in and make a difference.

“I am committed to developing young women both on and off the court, by teaching them the value of hard work and discipline and surrounding them with good people.”

Felton also feels that student-athletes should play an active part in the world they live in.
“It is important for student-athletes to ‘give back’ and be active in the community,” she said.

Last year, Felton served as a court coach for the USA national U-19 team trials at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., assisting with the implementation of practice drills and other drills throughout the trials process.

Felton has earned acclaim as one of the nation’s top recruiters and was named one of the Top Young Recruiters by Lindy’s Basketball Annual in the publication’s 1994-95 pre-season guide. Her 1994-95 recruiting class at Florida was ranked among the top five in the nation by Women’s Basketball News Service.

She brings an extensive background in Division I coaching, coming to Murray State from Clemson, where she served as an assistant coach and recuiting coordinator.

Prior to that, she served 12 seasons at the University of Florida as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Carol Ross, who is currently the head coach at the University of Mississippi. While at UF, Felton participated in the NCAA Championship Tournament nine times.

“Joi is a great student of the game, and she knows the game very well,” said Ross. “She’s very knowledgeable. She particularly enjoys working one-on-one with the players.”

During her tenure at Florida, the Lady Gators went 247-121 (.671), with much of that success credited to Felton’s recruiting skills.

Felton was responsible for the arrival of every student-athlete into the Lady Gator program during Ross’s tenure at UF.

She was credited with signing five All-Americans. Six of Felton’s signees played in the WNBA in the 2003 season, including DeLisha Milton-Jones of the 2002 WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks.

Milton-Jones was the 1997 Wade Trophy winner, the 1997 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and was Florida’s first-ever Kodak First-Team All-American.

Felton also brought in All-Americans Merlakia Jones of the Cleveland Rockers and Murriel Page of the Washington Mystics.

A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Felton played prep basketball at Bishop Kenny High School before continuing her career at the University of South Florida from 1984 to 1988.

At USF, she was a four-year starter and currently ranks 11th on the Bulls’ career assist list.

She graduated from South Florida in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in marketing. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Black Coaches Association.

Felton is married to Herman Felton, Jr., of Jacksonville, Fla., who serves as Murray State’s compliance coordinator with the Office of Equal Opportunity.