Former Fighting Camel standout Chris Wiley joined the Campbell staff in July 2006 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He was named head coach for the remainder of the 2007 season on Jan. 10.
Wiley spent the 2006 campaign at Division II Limestone College, where he served as pitching coach. A native of Dudley, N.C., Wiley coached Saints all-region pitcher Kevin Pucetas, who was chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the 17th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Prior to his year at Limestone, Wiley served two seasons (2004-2005) as assistant coach at Louisburg Junior College. During his stint at LC, Wiley helped lead the Hurricanes to an 89-31 record and two NJCAA Region X championships. Three of the LC players Wiley coached went on to join the Fighting Camel program ? Mike Ange, Ricky Howard and Justin Phillips.
In addition to his work at Limestone and Louisburg, Wiley has been active as a coach in the Coastal Plain League, a summer collegiate league that spans the Carolinas and Virginia. He has served as head coach of the Gastonia Grizzlies for the last two seasons, guiding the club to a second-half West Division title and berth in the 2005 Pettit Cup playoffs.
Wiley, who was an assistant at Gastonia in 2004, has also spent time as an associate scout for the Kansas City Royals. He also served as an assistant coach with the Carolina Black Sox of the Southern Collegiate League during the summer of 2003.
He played at Campbell from 1999-2003 and was a key contributor in Campbell’s 2001 season where the Camels set a school record with 33 victories. During that 2001 season, Wiley smacked a walk-off grand slam home run vs. Duke at Taylor Field. He tied his career high with six RBI in that contest.
During his career, Wiley saw action in 166 games at catcher, first base and designated hitter, batted .289 and compiled 61 RBI. He served as team captain in 2003 and was the team’s Coaches Award winner in 1999 after finishing second on the club with a .354 batting average. He was a member of Campbell’s 2000 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament runner-up team as well as the 2001 squad that finished third in the A-Sun regular season standings.
Wiley played in the Coastal Plain League with the Florence RedWolves and the Fayetteville SwampDogs. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Campbell in May 2003.
