Tony Pujol

  • Title
    Head Men's Basketball Coach
  • Email
    tpujol@una.edu
  • Phone
    256-765-4398
Updated: June 1, 2025

Tony Pujol was hired as UNA's head men's basketball coach on April 2, 2018. He enters his eighth season in 2025-26.

Pujol has been one of the key pillars in UNA's move to Division I in 2018, as he is the first and only Division I coach for the UNA men's basketball program. The upward trajectory of the program since his hire has been evident, as the men's basketball team won the school's first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship in any sport during the 2024-25 season. 

In the 2024-25 season, Pujol's squad finished with a 24-11 record and a 14-4 record in conference play. The Lions won a share of the ASUN Regular Season Championship, won both the ASUN Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds in front of two sellout crowds at CB&S Bank Arena, and advanced to the ASUN Championship Game for the second time in seven seasons. Despite falling in the championship to Lipscomb, UNA earned an at-large bid to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) for the first time in school history.

For his efforts, Pujol was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award in 2025, which is awarded to the top coach in mid-major basketball.

In his seven seasons, Pujol has won 102 games, coached six all-conference selections, two winners of the ASUN Freshman of the Year, one winner each of the ASUN Newcomer and Sixth Man of the Year, a Lou Henson Award Finalist and an NABC All-District player in the same district as multiple SEC programs. 

The Lions have been a tough beat at home since Pujol's arrival, owning a 64-28 record inside CB&S Bank Arena over the last seven seasons. UNA finished 14-1 at home in 2024-25, including a perfect 11-0 record against conference opponents in both the regular season and postseason.

Pujol originally came to UNA after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming. Pujol also served as an assistant basketball coach at Appalachian State University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Alabama before taking a position at Wyoming in 2016. He became just the seventh head coach in the 88-year history of the UNA’s men’s basketball program.

He has over two decades of collegiate coaching experience.

In 2022-23, Pujol led the Lions to their highest win total since 2013-14 with an 18-15 record. The Lions also competed in their first NCAA Division I postseason game with an appearance in the CBI Tournament in Florida. He followed that with a 15-17 record in 2023-24 against a tougher schedule with four Power Four opponents, but led the Lions to the ASUN Semifinal Round after a thrilling tournament win over Lipscomb at the buzzer. The buzzer shot made by KJ Johnson officially started March Madness, made national headlines and was the top play on SportsCenter and Scott Van Pelt's "Best Thing I Saw Today."

In seven seasons at North Alabama, Pujol has led the Lions to the ASUN Conference Tournament every year, including a berth in the championship game in 2021 and a semifinal run in 2024. During his tenure, UNA has had 12 all-conference selections, including five on the league's All-Freshman Team and two All-Academic picks.

Pujol led North Alabama through its transition to NCAA Division I basketball. Since making the move, which included membership in the ASUN Conference at the start of the 2018-19 season, UNA improved its record each of the first three years. The Lions posted a 10-22 record during their first Division I season, earning a No. 6 seed in the ASUN Tournament with a 7-9 league record after being picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll. Pujol followed with a three-win improvement in the second year and a No. 5 seed in the conference tourney. Mervin James was also named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.

In the 2020-21 campaign, North Alabama secured its first winning record at the Division I level, posting a 13-10 mark that included a postseason run. After earning a No. 5 seed, UNA won consecutive ASUN tournament games, knocking off North Florida 68-60 and FGCU 96-81 to earn a spot in the championship against top-seeded Liberty. The Lions held a late lead before falling 79-75. 

Payton Youngblood and James earned all-tournament honors. Youngblood later added ASUN All-Academic and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors to his resume while James was a second team all-conference pick. Detalian Brown was also named to the league's All-Freshman Team.

UNA had several standout performances during its inaugural Division I season, including Jamari Blackmon being named the ASUN Freshman of the Year and Christian Agnew also being named to the league's All-Freshman team. Under Pujol, UNA secured the program's first-ever Division I victory with a 72-59 home on over Blue Mountain on Nov. 10, at Flowers Hall. On Jan. 8, Florida Gulf Coast became the first Division I opponent to fall. The 61-56 home victory over FGCU also represented the Lions' first-ever win in ASUN Conference play.

A road game against seventh-ranked Gonzaga, the renewal of the home-and-home rivalry series with Jacksonville State and a No. 2 finish on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Plays were among the other first-season highlights for Pujol and the UNA program.

Pujol helped lead Wyoming to a 20-13 record in 2017-18. In 2016-17, Pujol helped lead the Cowboys to the College Basketball Invitational Championship. The Cowboys finished the season 23-15 overall with a 19-3 home record. Pujol helped mentor Mountain West Sixth Man Justin James, as he also was named the Most Valuable Player of the CBI. Junior Forward Hayden Dalton also received Honorable-Mention All-Mountain West honors. The Cowboys set a school and MW record with 369 three-pointers last season.

Pujol coached collegiately at Alabama for five seasons from 2010-2014 under head coach Anthony Grant. Pujol helped the Crimson Tide compile a 99-71 record during his time on the staff, including three-straight 20-win seasons for the first time since 1990-92. Alabama earned two NIT bids and one NCAA bid from 2011-13 and finished runner-up in the NIT in 2011.  That 2010-11 Crimson Tide team featured one of the toughest defenses in the nation, as Alabama surrendered only 59.4 points per game, the eighth-lowest average in the nation. Alabama's tenacious defense helped it go 19-0 at home during that season.
 
On the recruiting trail, he helped the Tide land a 2011 recruiting class that Rivals.com ranked as the fifth best in the nation with four prospects ranked in the top 100 nationally. After the 2013-14 season, Pujol stepped away from collegiate coaching to dedicated more time to his family and has coached the last year and a half in the AAU ranks in New Jersey.
 
Previously, Pujol served under Grant at VCU from 2006-09 with Edwards. The staff guided the Rams to a 76-25 record in those three seasons, including 45-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association. VCU won three conference regular-season titles and two tournament titles in that span to play in the NCAA tournament twice and NIT once. Two Rams from that team, Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders, would go on to be selected in the NBA draft.
 
Pujol joined Grant's staff after two seasons at Appalachian State from 2004-06, where he helped the Mountaineers win the Southern Conference North Division in 2005. The team also earned the NCAA's Public Recognition Award based on the program's APR. His recruits would help ASU win a school-record 25 games the season after he left.
 
Prior to his collegiate career, Pujol was a high school coach in south Florida for 13 seasons, including nine at Northwest Christian Academy in Miami, where he posted a 250-46 record with state titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004.
 
He graduated from Sterling College (Kansas) in 1989 with a degree in business administration and was a standout in both basketball and baseball, earning all-conference honors on the diamond in his final three seasons.

Tony and his wife, Mayle, have three daughters, Kasey, Kristen and Mia.


WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"Tony Pujol is a first class human being and coach. The University of North Alabama is getting ready to be touched by a winner on and off the court."
        --    Frank Martin, Head Basketball Coach, UMass

"Tony Pujol is an outstanding basketball coach, strategic planner and relationship builder. He will be a perfect fit for UNA on campus, in the community and in the transition to ASUN competition."
        --    Anthony Grant, Head Basketball Coach, University of Dayton

"Tony is an excellent coach who understands what it takes to win at a high level. He will have a tremendous impact on the student-athletes and athletics department at the University of North Alabama, as well as the community of Florence."
        --    Allen Edwards, Assistant Basketball Coach, UMass

"Tony is a great hire by UNA. He was one of my favorite people when he was at Alabama. I'm confident the people in the Shoals are going to love him."
        --    Patrick Murphy, Head Softball Coach, University of Alabama

"North Alabama has made a great hire in Tony Pujol. I am excited for him to have this opportunity to be the head basketball coach. Coach Pujol will be a great leader and mentor for the student-athletes and will do great things for the Lions' basketball program."
        --    Shane Lyons, Executive Deputy Director of Athletics, COO, University of Alabama

"Congratulations to North Alabama on the hiring of Tony Pujol! Having known Coach Pujol for 18 years, I've always been impressed with his work ethic, his commitment to his players and his ability to recruit talented student-athletes. With his wealth of experience, excellent basketball knowledge and incredible family, he will do a tremendous job leading the North Alabama program forward."
        --    Matt McMahon, Head Basketball Coach, LSU

"Tony is a first class coach who can recruit, coach and be a great ambassador of the Lions. He has tremendous passion and his teams will play with focus. He did a tremendous job at VCU and was instrumental in building the foundation for VCU's success. Good days are ahead for UNA basketball."
        --    Dr. Richard Sander, Director of Athletics, East Tennessee State University


Year-By-Year - Coach Tony Pujol
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
2018–19 North Alabama 10–22 7–9 6th
2019–20 North Alabama 13–17 8–8 5th
2020–21 North Alabama 13–11 7–8 5th
2021–22 North Alabama 9–21 2–14 6th (West)
2022–23 North Alabama 18–15 10–8 6th CBI First Round
2023–24 North Alabama 15–17 8–8 6th
2024–25 North Alabama 24-11 14-4 T1st NIT First Round
North Alabama: 102–114 (.472) 56–59 (.487)
Total: 102–114 (.472)