Conference USA inducted the late former FAU softball coach Joan Joyce into its Hall of Fame on Monday.

The C-USA Hall of Fame was established in 2019 with the purpose of honoring the many great players and coaches who created significant moments of their careers or made history in the conference. For the Class of 2022, Joyce joins the likes of basketball head coach John Calipari, who won four C-USA titles when he coached the University of Memphis from 2000 to 2009, among others.

This marks Joyce’s 21st Hall of Fame inclusion. Her places in other Hall of Fames involve the National Softball Hall of Fame in 1983 and the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 1999.

Joyce was FAU’s first softball coach since the program began in 1995. She finished with a 1002-674-1 record as FAU’s softball head coach in 18 seasons, leading FAU to 11 conference titles, 11 NCAA postseason tournament appearances, and eight conference Coach of the Year awards.

With nine of those seasons being in C-USA, Joyce put together a 102-71 record. The best year of her career in the conference came in 2016, where she coached FAU to a 51-9 campaign and an appearance in the NCAA Regionals.

Before her death in March, Joyce accomplished one last milestone by earning her 1,000th win. She became the 42nd coach of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), the 27th in NCAA Division I history to do so. 

To honor Joyce, FAU hosted a celebration of life event in June and established the Joan Joyce Memorial Fund, where all proceeds are donated to the softball program. To make a donation, click here.

Richard Pereira is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.