|
 Buzz
Peterson is in his first season as the head men’s
basketball coach at Coastal Carolina University. He
is the fifth coach in Coastal Carolina’s 31-year
basketball history.
"We are delighted to have Buzz and Jan Peterson and
their children join our family at Coastal Carolina
University," CCU athletic director Warren "Moose"
Koegel said. "Buzz played on a national championship
team at the University of North Carolina and has had
outstanding coaching experience, working with some
of the great basketball minds in the nation. He has
a proven record as a head coach, as his teams have
been to both the NCAA and NIT postseason events,
including the 2001 NIT Championship, and won
numerous conference titles.
"What made this job so appealing was the potential
here at Coastal was just exploding," Peterson
commented. "That comes from talking with other
administrators around the South about what could
happen here. Nothing good is going to happen unless
we get out there, work hard and win some games and
get people excited about our program and all the
sports. It is my job to make sure that I get the
men’s basketball program to where people get excited
about it and come out and watch it."
"I always tell the student-athletes that, as a
coach, I am going to treat them as a human being
first, a student second and an athlete third,"
Peterson stated. "If they get out of line in those
orders, then this is probably not the place for them
to be because we are going to work to help you grow
in those areas and in that order."
"Buzz cares about his players and has been a great
influence on his student-athletes as they strive to
represent their teammates and the institution in a
positive manner, both on and off the court," Koegel
continued. "He will be a great ambassador of Coastal
Carolina University in the area as well as
throughout the state of South Carolina."
Peterson has been a successful head coach at three
schools during his coaching tenure. Most recently,
he was the head coach at Tennessee, posting an
overall mark of 61-59, including two postseason bids
to the NIT. He had six players earn All-Southeastern
Conference honors during his four years, including
Ron Slay, who was named SEC Player of the Year in
2003.
Prior to that, Peterson spent one year at the
University of Tulsa during the 2000-01 season,
taking that team to a 26-11 overall mark. The Golden
Hurricanes captured the National Invitational
Tournament title with five straight wins, including
defeating Memphis in the semifinals and Alabama in
the championship game.
In his first head coaching job at Appalachian State,
Peterson improved the program from just eight wins
in 1995-96 to a 14-14 mark his first year. He then
had three 20-win seasons and led the Mountaineers to
the Southern Conference’s regular season title, a
pair of SoCon Coach of the Year awards and a place
in the SoCon Tournament championship game each of
those three seasons. The 1999-2000 season culminated
in Appalachian State winning the league’s tournament
title and earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Peterson began his coaching career as an assistant
under Tom Apke at Appalachian State, where the
Mountaineers posted a 36-23 record during that time.
Peterson then joined Les Robinson’s staff at East
Tennessee State for one year, where the Buccaneers
won the Southern Conference regular season and
tournament titles, earning the league’s automatic
berth in the NCAA Tournament for just the third time
in school history.
Peterson then followed Robinson to North Carolina
State for the next three years, which included a
berth in the NCAA Tournament for the Wolfpack in
1991. He then went on to Jan van Breda Kolff’s staff
at Vanderbilt in 1993, serving as the associate head
coach for the Commodores. During his three-year
tenure, Peterson was a part of a 51-41 overall
record, including two appearances in the NIT and the
NIT title game in 1994.
As a player, Peterson was a Parade and McDonald’s
All-American at Asheville High School and was named
North Carolina’s Player of the Year and Athlete of
the Year. He accepted a scholarship to North
Carolina, where he roomed with the runner-up for
both of the state’s awards the previous season,
Michael Jordan.
During his four years with the Tar Heels, Peterson
helped the Tar Heels to a 115-22 mark, four Atlantic
Coast Conference championships, one ACC Tournament
title and four berths in the NCAA Tournament. He was
a part of North Carolina’s 1982 national
championship team and was voted the Outstanding
Senior by his teammates following the 1984-85
season.
Peterson and his wife Jan have three children:
Nicole (13), Olivia (9) and Rob III (7). |
