Rick Pietri will enter his 10th season at South Alabama in 2009-10.  In his nine previous years at the helm of the Lady Jags, Pietri has turned South Alabama into a league contender, capturing back-to-back Sun Belt Conference West Division Titles in 2003 and 2004.  USA also made consecutive WNIT Postseason appearances those same two seasons, hosting Florida State in 2004.  This past season, despite losing two starters to injuries midway through the year, Pietri still was able to guide USA to a second-place finish in the SBC’s East Division.  The 21 wins by the Lady Jags marked just the eighth 20-win season by a South Alabama squad and the program’s first back-to-back 20-win seasons in 21 years.   Pietri also captured his 150th collegiate victory and the 300th victory of his career at any level during the 2008-09 season.  South Alabama advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Tournament, nearly pulling off the upset of top-seeded and eventual champion Middle Tennessee.



In 2008-09, South Alabama picked up honorable mention votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for two-straight weeks – Weeks 6-7 (Dec. 22-29), marking the second consecutive year Pietri and the Lady Jags had done so.  The season prior, USA earned honorable mention votes in the national poll for three weeks – Weeks 5-7 (Dec. 10-24).  During Pietri’s time, South Alabama has also received votes in a national poll in the 2004-05 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll, the Jan. 19, 2004 Associated Press Poll and the Jan. 20, 2004 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.