Jacksonville State women’s basketball coach Rick Pietri has started forming his coaching staff with a pair of familiar faces, as Eric Wise and Altherias Warmley have joined the Gamecock staff.

Wise and Pietri worked together for eight seasons on the bench at South Alabama, while Warmley comes to Jax State after a solid tenure as head coach at Alabama A&M. There will be a meet and greet on Monday, July 15, at 3 p.m. in the Coxwell Room of the JSU Field House to meet Coach Pietri and his staff.

Wise was instrumental in the success of the USA program in Mobile, Ala. Along side Pietri, the Jaguars were a contender in the Sun Belt Conference, capturing back-to-back Sun Belt West Division titles in 2003 and 2004. South also made consecutive WNIT postseason appearances in 2003 and 2004. The Jags finished with a winning record in five of his last six years, including three straight years with a 17-13 record from 2010-11 through the 2012-13 season.

"Eric (Wise) spent eight years with me at South Alabama and he understands all the aspects of the system we’ll put in place as well as bring in the kind of players we need to fit our system," Pietri said. "He was the lead contact in signing some quality players at USA and I expect he’ll do the same at JSU."

Prior to his stint in Mobile, he coached at Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State and Bethune-Cookman. While at UL-Monroe, Wise was a staff member of one of the program’s all-time great teams, as the 2000-01 squad finished 20-9 overall and 17-3 in Southland Conference play.

Before entering the college ranks, Wise spent four years (1996-2000) as the head girls’ coach at West Feliciana High. He led his teams to the playoffs every year and won three district titles and was named Coach of the Year three times.

He began his coaching career as the boys’ basketball head coach at Opelousas Catholic. There, he produced one co-district championship team in his four-year stint (1992-96). His 1993-94 and 1994-95 teams advanced to the playoffs.

Like Pietri, Warmley has spent the last ten years in Normal, Ala., building the women’s hoops program at Alabama A&M.

AAMU earned its first trip to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament under Warmley in 2003-04 and turned in the program’s first winning season since 1996-97 the following year with a 16-12 overall mark and 9-2 in the SWAC. The Lady Bulldogs posted a 17-13 overall mark and claimed their first 11 conference games before finishing with a 13-5 league mark. In 2010-11 she led AAMU to one of the school’s biggest wins as her squad topped Big 10 foe Minnesota.

"I’ve known and respected Altherias (Warmley) since she was an assistant at MTSU," mentioned Pietri. "She ran a quality program at Alabama A&M and knows the region of the country that we will be focused on in recruiting. I know she will do a great job for us at JSU."

Warmley spent eight years on the staff at former OVC-member Middle Tennessee State before taking the head coaching position at AAMU. During her tenure in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the Lady Raiders posted a 140-94 record, won two Ohio Valley Conference titles and earned two trips to the NCAA Tournament, as well as two trips to the WNIT.

While with MTSU, she mentored three OVC Freshmen of the Year, the former South Carolina Player of the Year, and several All-State performers. The All-Star Girls Report rated the 2001 signing class at MTSU as one of the top 50 in the nation.

Warmley is a native of Bessemer, Alabama, where she starred in both volleyball and basketball at Jess Lanier High School. In 1986, she enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, walked on for the Lady Blazers in 1987, and went on to letter for three seasons (1987-1990). She also spent her summers working in the mayor’s office with the Birmingham Youth Games.

After graduating from UAB, she served one season at Wenonah High School in Birmingham, Alabama, as a volunteer assistant coach. One year later she joined the Lady Blazers coaching staff as the second assistant. Her main duties included recruiting, scouting, promotions, on-the-floor coaching, and coordinating team travel.

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