FLORENCE, Ala. (June 22, 2026) – University of North Alabama head men's basketball coach Tony Pujol announced an exciting addition to his coaching staff on Monday, naming Perin Foote as an assistant coach.
 
Foote comes to UNA from Florida State where he served as the Director of Operations under head coach Luke Loucks. Prior to FSU, he served as an assistant coach at Virginia Military Institute and helped VMI achieve its greatest single season turnaround in program history.
 
Foote joins a staff that includes associate head coach Ahmad Smith, assistant coaches Drew Stutts and Will Soucie, director of operations Jalen Patton and recently announced strength and conditioning coach Cam Madding. Foote replaces Andrew Steele, who recently accepted a position at Butler.
 
"Perin's experience across multiple levels of Division I basketball makes him a tremendous addition to our staff," said Pujol. "He has worked in successful programs at both the power conference and mid-major levels, giving him a broad understanding of what it takes to recruit, develop and compete in today's college basketball landscape. He is a high-character coach with a great basketball mind, and his ability to build meaningful relationships with student-athletes will be a tremendous asset to our program. We are excited to welcome Perin to Florence and look forward to the impact he will have on our players and our future success."
 
Last season at Florida State, Foote was part of a staff that finished with an 18-15 record and 10-8 record in conference play. The Seminoles defeated Cal in the first round of the ACC Tournament before falling in an 80-79 heartbreaker to top-ranked Duke — the eventual ACC champion.
 
Florida State is also Foote's alma mater, as he spent four seasons with the program as a manager from 2016-20 under head coach Leonard Hamilton. As the head manager, assisted in scouting reports, on-court development and gameday preparation. During his time at Florida State, the Seminoles earned four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight trip in 2018. Foote assisted in the development of nine NBA draft picks, including Malik Beasley, Terrance Mann, Patrick Williams, Devin Vassell and Scottie Barnes.
 
After earning his bachelor's degree in sport management from FSU in 2020, he spent two seasons at Cleveland State as a graduate assistant. With the Vikings, he helped the program capture back-to-back regular season Horizon League titles in 2021 and 2022 while claiming the league's tournament crown in 2021 and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Foote finished his master's degree in 2022 and went on to spend two seasons at Missouri as the Director of Player Development. He finished another master's degree from Mizzou in 2024 with a focus in positive coaching and athletic leadership.
 
This led Foote to the SoCon, where he worked with head coach Andrew Wilson at VMI. The Keydets earned an 11-win improvement as they won 15 games during the 2024-25 season after having won only four games during the 2023-24 season. The Keydets were one of just 14 programs nationwide to improve their previous season's win total by double digits. VMI won nine games against SoCon opponents, including two in the postseason tournament, for only the ninth time in program history and advanced to the SoCon Tournament semis for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
 
Foote also served on the USA Basketball Junior National Teams coaching staff. He has worked with the U14-U19 Junior National Teams for the last six years, and most recently worked with the 2019 USA National Team under legendary coach Gregg Popovich.
 
"I'm truly thankful for the opportunity to join the University of North Alabama men's basketball staff," said Foote. "This is a special opportunity, and I'm excited to begin this next chapter. I'm looking forward to working for Coach Tony Pujol, learning from his leadership, and helping our program succeed in every way I can. I'm looking forward to becoming part of the North Alabama community and can't wait to meet the people who make this place so special."
 
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