Wells joins SIUE women's basketball staff

EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE women's basketball Head Coach Paula Buscher announced the appointment of Joey Wells as an assistant coach for the Cougars.

Wells joins SIUE's staff after spending four seasons as the head coach at Indiana State.

"We are excited to be able to add Joey to our staff," said Buscher. "He is a proven-recruiter. He has great basketball knowledge, and his experience definitely will be a positive impact for our program."

Wells was an assistant coach at Indiana State from 2012 to 2014 before taking over as the head coach, where he helped the Sycamores to two postseason appearances and a Missouri Valley Conference title in 2014. Indiana State won an MVC regular season title in 2013, advancing to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).

At Indiana State, he saw 11 players earn all-MVC honors, two receive Newcomer of the Year awards, 10 being named All-Scholar Athletes and five players who would sign a professional contract to play overseas.

Known primarily as a defensive-minded coach, Indiana State was among the top two in scoring defense in five of his six years.

Wells also was an assistant coach (2007-09) and associate head coach (2009-12) at Lamar University, where he was voted among the top 25 Mid-Major Women's Basketball Assistant Coaches by collegeinsider.com.

"Joey knows the game, will be a fantastic recruiter and has the ability to develop players," said Indiana University Head Coach Teri Moren, who previously worked with Wells at Indiana State. "Not only is he a good basketball coach, he is even a better person. He will be a great addition to Coach Buscher's staff and SIUE."

His teams at Lamar averaged 21 victories while winning a conference regular season and postseason tournament title in 2010 as well as two divisional titles. The Cardinals had one Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, three Newcomers of the Year and four first team All-Conference picks.

Prior to Lamar, Wells was an assistant coach for Missouri Western (2004-07). The team averaged 23 wins over his final two seasons there, including a 30-win season during the 2006-07 campaign.

Wells started his coaching career at the junior college level as the head coach of Howard (Texas) Junior College (2000-02) and Ranger (Texas) Junior College (2002-04). He earned WACJAC Coach of the Year honors after taking Howard to the NJCAA regionals.

A 1996 graduate of Fresno Pacific University, he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education. He and his wife, Tina, have three children – Tanner, Alex and Carlie as well as a granddaughter Brylee.

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