Special to The Commercial Appeal
Backing down from a challenge has never been in Joye Lee-McNelis’ DNA. She cherishes a fight. Tell her she can’t do something and then step back and watch her do all in her power to prove you’ve misjudged her.
The former, successful University of Memphis women’s basketball coach – the last to take the program to the NCAA Tournament – finds herself in another fight, perhaps the most difficult of her life. Cancer, which she defeated several years ago, has returned, attempting to disrupt the non-stop schedule of a college coach, mother and grandmother.