Career
After graduating from South Alabama, where he was manager of the men"s basketball team from 1983-1987, Pietri began his coaching career as an assistant at Saint Paul"s High School in Covington, Louisiana. He then spent four years as an assistant with the men"s team at Spring Hill College in Mobile before moving to Birmingham and one season as an assistant for Birmingham-Southern College"s successful men"s National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program Pietri then became head coach of the boy"s basketball team at British Columbia Rain High School in Mobile, directing his team to the Alabama Final Four four years in a row, including the Alabama Class 5A state championship in 1997.
After two season as boys coach at Saint Paul"s High School in Mobile, Pieri was named women"s coach at South Alabama, taking over leadership of a program that had gone through ten consecutive losing seasons.
With a record of 220-167 and 111-104 in the Sun Belt, Pietri is the winningest coach in United States of America women"s basketball. On March 13, 2013, Pietri was fired.
In his first year at Jacksonville State, Pietri led a program that had gone 5-52 (2-30 OVC) in its previous two years to a record of 14-18 (8-8 OVC) and a semi-final finish in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.