SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College men's soccer coach Joel Tyson announced on Friday that Nick Finotti and Alec Purdie have joined the coaching staff as assistants. Finotti has spent the past 15 years with the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy, while Purdie spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Belmont.    
 
"I was excited to be able to put this staff together, not for myself, but for the players," said Tyson. "Nick and Alec bring a unique set of personalities to our group and I'm excited to have them work alongside Thomas Valikonis and myself."
 
Finotti has served as the head coach of the South Region Olympic Development Program since 2009 and was the co-director of the boys ECNL program at the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy (CESA) from 2005-2019.
 
"Nick has been someone that I have looked up to as a coach and person since my first stint at Wofford," said Tyson. "Nick's been vital to Wofford long before he began coaching here, with our relationship with him and his players through the CESA program that has done so well."
 
While at CESA, he has been the head coach for three teams and coached over 200 players that went on to play collegiately. He led squads to four USYS Premier League championships and 16 South Carolina state championships. He has coached four players that went on to play at the professional level.
 
He spent five seasons as head coach in the high school ranks at Northwestern and Greenville. He posted a 118-12-2 overall record and won five region titles along with two state final appearances. Twice he was named South Carolina Coach of the Year and he was Region Coach of the Year five times.
 
Finotti is a graduate of Coker College and earned a master's degree in education from Lander University. He has a United Soccer Coaches Advanced National Diploma and a United States Soccer Federation A license.
 
Purdie joins the Wofford staff after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Belmont.
 
"Alec has been involved in the game at very high levels as a player and as a coach," said Tyson. "Those experiences make him a valuable leader to our players and he's someone I expect that they can look up to."
 
A four-year letterwinner at Indiana University, Purdie made 63 match appearances with 35 starts.  As a senior, Purdie earned First Team All-Big Ten honors after tallying eight goals and five assists. He graduated in 2011 with a degree in sports communications and broadcasting.
 
From there, the Elkhart, Indiana native took part in the 2012 Major League Soccer Player Combine and was selected 22nd overall in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft by the New England Revolution.  After playing for the New England Revolution for the 2012 season, Purdie played in Sweden before shifting his focus to coaching.