EMORY, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics honored former coach and retiring faculty memberJoy Scruggs on Saturday, February 1 for her nearly four decades of service to the College.

This past Saturday, during halftime of the women's basketball game against Randolph-Macon College, Dr. John W. Wells, President of the College presented a resolution approved by the College Board of Trustees declaring Scruggs the first-ever Head Coach Emerita. A banner, including her accomplishments, was unveiled over the home bleachers in the John Rutledge King Center Gymnasium.

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Scruggs became the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Emory & Henry in 1981 and over the next 28 seasons, led the program to a total of 384 wins, 19 winning seasons and an ODAC Championship in 1988. Scruggs led the Wasps to 22 ODAC Tournament wins, and five appearances in the ODAC Championship game. For her success, she was selected as ODAC Coach of the Year three times – in 1984, 2002, and 2003.

Before the start of Saturday's game, over 80 former players, colleagues, and friends gathered in the Board of Visitors Lounge on the E&H campus to pay homage to the impact Scruggs has had on and off the court.

The lunch celebration included the announcement that the Washington County, Virginia Board of Supervisors officially declared February 1 as Joy Scruggs Day in the county. Special presentations included a poem penned in Scruggs honor and read by faculty colleague Beverly Sheddan ('84), a special resolution from the  Virginia House of Delegates honoring her retirement presented by Delegate Israel O'Quinn ('02), and a tribute by former player Kay Turner Poindexter ('85). The event also featured several videos from former players who were not able to make the event, including Toni Atkins ('84), who currently serves as the leader of the California State Senate.

Scruggs is also known for her collegiate playing career at the University of Tennessee. A 5-3 guard, she played for the Lady Vols in the first year that the legendary Pat Summit coached the team. Upon her graduation from UT, she coached and taught at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga before joining the E&H coaching staff in 1981. She helped transition the E&H women's program to Division III and the ODAC in 1982, only one year after the NCAA began sponsoring women's athletics.

Since retiring from coaching in 2014, Scruggs has continued to teach as a respected faculty member in the Health & Human Performance Department from which she will retire at the end of this academic year.

She continues to remain active in service to the community, particularly in her work with Abingdon Rotary Club and in her church. Rotary International honored her as a Paul Harris Fellow for her commitment to the organization and to serving the community. She won the 2016 Exemplary Teaching Award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

The women's basketball program has established the Joy Scruggs Leadership Award, which is awarded annually to the player who best embodies servant leadership. Scruggs was the recipient of the Fanelli Award from the Department of Athletics in 2014, and she received the Hope Award from E&H in 2007. She was inducted into the Emory & Henry Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Joy is married to Dennis Sutherland.

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