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The "Buzz" about the coach search

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/college/fau/sfl-fauhoops09apr09,0,984562.story?coll=sfla-fau

Angelos wooing ex-Vol Peterson

By Ted Hutton
Staff Writer
Posted April 9 2005

If high-powered endorsements carry any weight with Florida Atlantic Athletic Director Craig Angelos, then Buzz Peterson will be the Owls' new coach.

Peterson, 41, was fired March 13 after finishing his fourth season at Tennessee. The Volunteers were 61-59 under him and never made it to the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton ignored the advice of Volunteers women's coach Pat Summit and football coach Phil Fulmer, who asked Hamilton to keep Peterson. Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Tubby Smith and Tennessee grads Todd Helton and Peyton Manning also went public with support for Peterson.

When FAU approached Peterson about replacing Sidney Green, Angelos heard from Smith and Williams. Peterson played at North Carolina from 1981 to 1985 under Smith, and Williams was one of Smith's assistants during the time.

Angelos would not say who his finalists are, but sources said Peterson will be making a visit to the campus the next couple days.

Peterson has a standing offer from Coastal Carolina and also is a candidate and North Carolina-Greensboro.

But FAU may have the best package, because the $140,000 salary beats those being offered by Coastal Carolina and Greensboro.

Peterson had a base salary of $220,000 at Tennessee, but other revenue sources pushed it above $500,000. Peterson's replacement, Bruce Pearl, will be making about $800,000 a year.

But money may not be a factor for Peterson, who had a buyout clause in his contract. Tennessee wired $1.39 million to his bank account last week, according to The Tennessean.

But the basketball budget is an issue at FAU, where the athletic department is in debt. Angelos said he was up front with the candidates about the situation, and expects coaches to be able to generate money through booster support and ticket sales as well as wins. The new coach will have a recruiting budget of $20,000 and limited money to pay assistants.

This past season Angelos said the three assistants were making $42,000, $31,000 and $16,000.

Before being fired, Peterson was prepared to hire a new assistant at Tennessee for $150,000 a year. Tennessee's overall athletic budget is $65 million compared to FAU's $11.5 million.


Sounds good to me, better than an ex-Lynn coach.
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The "Buzz" about the coach search

When his Airness comes calling, the Owls' job looks real attractive
In My Opinion

Published Sunday, April 10, 2005
by Cory Jennerjohn


The long drawn-out soap opera of a men?s basketball coach has been whittled down to former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson and current Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price.

Peterson will be in town interviewing for the job tomorrow while Price will make his visit Tuesday.

The pair of candidates couldn?t be any more dissimilar.

Peterson was ushered the door while leading the Volunteers to a mediocre 61-59 record and no NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons. He has coached a major Division I program with an athletic department that boasts a budget of well over $65 million while coaching in front of the orange-clad crew.

Peterson also has an offer to coach at Coastal Carolina, but they cannot come close to the $140,000 that FAU is willing to pay the Sidney Green successor. However, that job might strike Peterson since that would place him closer to his hometown of Asheville, NC.

Something else that sweetens the deal is Michael Jordan. Of course, the casual observer might ask, what link does Jordan have to any of this? Well, since he was his roommate at North Carolina, he wants to see his pal stay in the coaching circle.

This is nothing new for Mike. Ironically, he made a personal recommendation at the behest of Green six years ago. Unfortunately as we all know, that honeymoon didn?t have a happy ending.

Price is coming into this job hunt under different circumstances. He has a nice job at Georgia Southern, but this would be nothing more than a lateral move. Granted, he has guided cross-town Lynn into a force and he also knows South Florida like George Foreman knows food.

However, at the rate that Price is going, he will have job offers pouring in from higher profile conferences that would beg him to stroll their sidelines.

Until then, this program needs a Buzz (I had to). The aura that this move would make would be outstanding.

It?s pretty obvious that upon signing his new contract, he won?t dash off to the beach to take a break for a while. He?s 41 and still has the energy to have the Owls perched on top of the Sun Belt Conference, all while getting a solid base and helping fill the FAU Gymnasium.

However, winning comes with a price. If and when Peterson starts to win here, don?t be upset when he flies the coop in search of something greater. FAU cannot compete with all the top-notch high-profile schools out there.

They have gotten a lot of great interest from people that would raise a lot of eyebrows - Charles Barkley to Dean Smith ? even though the record may not have been so hot, they were still recognized within coaching circles and the game of basketball itself.

What FAU can do, is find someone that has a blueprint for building the framework for a solid foundation, and once that is accomplished, finding coaches will still be a difficult and tedious task. But at least the initial work of marketing and trying to sell a program should be in the past and the new coach will only have to worry about wins and losses.

The national signing day is April 14 and since the athletic department wants to be absolutely sure on the next hire, they have taken the time to comb through every detail.

Taking your time to find the right suitor is what should be done, however it shouldn?t be done at the price of recruits.

To contact Cory Jennerjohn call 561-893-6629, or e-mail him at [email protected].


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The "Buzz" about the coach search





FAU to talk to former Lynn coach
By Marcus Nelson

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

BOCA RATON ? Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price will interview today for the basketball vacancy at Florida Atlantic, a day after former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson declined a scheduled campus visit.

A source who is familiar with the search said Price, who previously coached at Lynn University, is to meet with FAU President Frank Brogan in his first interview since Price talked to the search committee of Athletic Director Craig Angelos and academic advisor Mike Allen in St. Louis during the Final Four. Brogan didn't attend that interview and today will be the first time he and Price have met in person to discuss the opening.

Peterson was scheduled to interview Monday, but changed his mind.

Peterson, who was fired from Tennessee, has been offered the job at Coastal Carolina. Peterson's offer at CCU is believed to be slightly less than what FAU will pay, but Peterson has strong roots in the Carolinas.

Another possible candidate. George Washington assistant Steve Pikiell, will be announced today as the next coach at Stony Brook, according to Newsday.

Price, who is 102-73 in six seasons at Georgia Southern, a Division I school that competes in the Southern Conference, knows the area well after going 135-43 in six seasons at Lynn.


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The "Buzz" about the coach search

The "Buzz" about the coach search

price is going to suck. what a dissapointment. the guy has zero recruiting connections. getting a top assistant from a the big east would have been so much better. this a debacle. what a mess. buzz peterson would have been good. any assistant from the big east would have been great but getting a former head coach from no named programs is going to put us in the bottom of the sunbelt.
were not going to get the areas top recruits. first there few and far between and secondly there going to an area school. Our focus should be on the north east and selling the kid on florida. price has no connections up there. i would rather ken huber for head coach to keep his recruiting connections.

nobody seems to realize how much angelos screwed this up. say what you want in his defense but if we get price were not going .500 forget about the NCAA's. Price is the same as sidney, came from south hampton uni on long island, NY. And we all know how that worked out. You need the credentials and connections of a major program. georgia southern and lynn are not those programs………
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The "Buzz" about the coach search

Is it just me, or do some people here think that the Northeast is the center of the college basketball universe? Please, who cares about the Big East? How about we go after one of the assistants from Rutgers or St. John's? After three years of that, we'd all be begging Sidney to come back.

Like Schnelly says, you've got to start in your own backyard. Sidney was never a good recruiter, especially in South Florida. Price had 10 kids on Georgia Southern's roster from Florida. Six of those players came from Palm Beach and Broward County, including former Palm Beach Lakes stud Louis Graham, former Palm Beach Post player of the year Jean Francois from Lake Worth and former Sentinel player of the year Anthony Marshall from Lake Worth. You can't tell me Price's ties to South Florida didn't help recruit those kids.


President of the No Homers Club. Keepin' it real since 2001.
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The "Buzz" about the coach search

Georgia Southern is a nobody. Anyone good is going to head to Miami for the ACC, USF for the Big East or UF. We don't have the talent for basketball down here.

the south has football and basebal the north has basketball and kids with lacrosse and hockey sticks. Look at Billy D. at UF, were did come from? New york and look what he did to UF? I'm telling you were going to attract the same talent if we recruit from palm beach.
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The "Buzz" about the coach search

FYI -
Billy Donovan came from PC…the Providence College Friars in Providence, Rhode Island. Not New York.

Also…looks like Buzz in Carolina is official:

Coastal Carolina hires Buzz Peterson


CONWAY, S.C. (AP) – Former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson has accepted the job as head coach at Coastal Carolina.

Peterson, fired after failing to make the NCAA tournament in four years with the Volunteers, was expected to be introduced Friday, athletic spokesman John Martin said Wednesday.

Coastal athletic director Warren "Moose" Koegel said he received a fax Tuesday evening from Peterson accepting the job.

Peterson replaces Pete Strickland, who was fired last month after seven seasons. Strickland never made the NCAA tournament and never even had a winning season, finishing 70-127.

Peterson went 61-59 in four seasons with the Volunteers, losing twice in the opening round of the NIT. Tennessee bought out the remaining two years of his contract following the 2004-05 season.

Aside from being head coach at Tennessee, Peterson spent one year at Tulsa and four years at Appalachian State, where he went 79-39. His teams posted at least 20 wins in each his final three seasons with the Mountaineers and made the NCAA tournament once.

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The "Buzz" about the coach search

FAURhodeIsland is this Todd? if so let me know... Matt
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The "Buzz" about the coach search

No more Buzz for us, here is ESPN's article:

http://sports.espn.go.…nist=katz_andy&id=2036113
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