Rick Pietri has served as the head women’s basketball coach at Jacksonville State University since June 2013, building the Gamecocks into one of the most successful programs in school Division I history. Known for revitalizing programs, Pietri immediately engineered one of the nation’s top turnarounds, improving JSU from a 1–27 campaign prior to his arrival to 14 wins in his first season. Over 12 seasons, he has compiled 181 victories at Jacksonville State, becoming the program’s all-time winningest head coach. His leadership guided the Gamecocks to multiple record-setting seasons, including a 24–8 mark in 2021–22, the best Division I season in school history, highlighted by an ASUN West Division Championship and the program’s first Division I postseason appearance in the WNIT. Pietri’s teams have consistently excelled in conference play while also earning national academic recognition.
Pietri’s coaching résumé includes more than 400 Division I career victories, ranking him among the most accomplished coaches in Alabama women’s basketball history. Before Jacksonville State, he spent 13 seasons at South Alabama, where he transformed the Lady Jaguars into Sun Belt contenders, capturing back-to-back division titles and earning consecutive WNIT bids. He remains the winningest coach in South Alabama history and is one of a select few Division I women’s basketball coaches to be the all-time winningest head coach at two separate institutions. Pietri began his collegiate career as a men’s assistant at Spring Hill College and Birmingham-Southern, and he also enjoyed significant success as a high school head coach, including a state championship at B.C. Rain High School. A New Orleans native and South Alabama graduate, Pietri and his wife Suzanne have two sons and a growing family.
