Gray to be inducted into the MACJC Athletic Hall of Fame

Gray to be inducted into the MACJC Sports Hall of Fame
Donna Thomas/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – ICC women's basketball coach, Nanci Gray, will be inducted into the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) Athletic Hall of Fame on Tuesday, April 25, in a special ceremony scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Muse Center of Hinds Community College in Pearl.

Gray has complete her eleventh season as head coach of the Lady Indians basketball team. After spending more than 27 years in high school education at Houlka, Bruce, and Tupelo and 17 years as a head coach, she led the Lady Indians to the 2008 and 2012 state championships for which she was named MACJC Coach of the Year.

During her tenure, Gray has led the ICC women's basketball program to three National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 Championships, three MACJC titles, and six MACJC North Division crowns. In 2014-15, Gray picked up her 600th career win. Her career record is 661-200.

Among her honors are TriLakes Conference Coach of the Year, Mississippi Association of Coaches (MAC) North All-Star Coach, multiple Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Coach of the Year, multiple Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Lee County Coach of the Year, MAC Coach of the Year, multiple MACJC Coach of the Year, and three NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year honors. She was selected to the ICC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. In addition, she has coached a Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, numerous All-SEC team members, WNBA players for the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Suns, NJCAA Academic All-Americans, and NJCAA All-Americans.

Gray's impressive resume includes a stellar career at Houlka High School and then Itawamba Junior College.

At Houlka, Gray played varsity basketball for four years. In 1972, her team was state runner-up, and she was named MAC All-State and in 1974, MAC All-Star player.

At ICC, in 1975 she was a member of the revitalized women's basketball team, which in its first year won the MACJC State Championship, NJCAA Region Championship, and participated in the NJCAA National Tournament in Vincennes, Ind. That season she was named honorable mention, All-American by the NJCAA.

Gray's additional honors and activities include Special Olympics Coach, Special Olympics International Games, Special Olympics World Games, Lee Country Courier Women of the 90's, and Teacher of Distinction at Tupelo High School.

She is married to Joel Gray. They have two children, Joseph and Tiffany, and five grandchildren.