Peterson wearing green
Interesting scene at UNC Wilmington’s press conference yesterday announcing Buzz Peterson as the new coach:
Peterson, part of a new-coach press conference for the sixth time, slipped on a green jacket, with a UNCW lapel pin attached, before taking the podium.
“Now, you say, ‘Hey Buzz, you’ve moved around some,” Peterson said. “You’ve been different places.’ Every time I moved there was a reason. There was a reason why I moved, whether it’s for family, whether it’s to better yourself in the profession. Whatever it may be, I made that move for a reason.”
Then, he said, “I’m sick and tired of making those moves. I know people have said, ‘Hey, he’s moved around so much,’ but Jan and I will tell you, and these kids, we’re ready to put roots somewhere and stay there.”
That statement was met with a lengthy round of applause.
The reason for the latest move?
Here’s an educated guess, which doesn’t take too much cognitive ability to come up with: Peterson’s annual take, including incentives, bonuses, etc., will jump from about $220,000 to $435,000 a year.
Then there’s this:
Peterson, who had indicated at times this season that he was disappointed with attendance at ASU games, said he likes what he’s seen in terms of support at UNCW. He said: “We all want to be wanted. We’re human beings. I just feel like the support here for men’s basketball is very strong and I want to be a part of that.”
Charlie Cobb, ASU’s athletics director, said that he talked with Peterson at length last week, and said that he received no indication that Peterson would be part of any other program – although there had been mutual interest between Peterson and Marshall in regard to a coaching vacancy filled last week by Tom Herrion.
Cobb said that he came away from the meeting feeling that Peterson was set to continue at ASU.
“We had what I thought was a productive, lengthy conversation Tuesday morning about the future of the program here and where we want to go,” Cobb said.
“When Marshall contacted me and said, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you about Buzz,’ I thought it was a great opportunity for Buzz to talk about the commitment of Appalachian and where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do, so I was a little disappointed at some of the comments that were made, especially to (the media). But at the end of the day I felt like coming out of our conversation on Tuesday was a pretty heartfelt, pretty frank conversation that we wouldn’t be having (to hire a new coach).
“I’m not really someone who gets mad about a lot of stuff. I try to understand where the other person is coming from. I don’t know if I’ve really had time yet to digest the full range of emotion. I know there are some people pretty upset. I know there’s probably some people looking at me and saying, ‘You probably should have seen this coming.’
“But Buzz is a good guy and I told him Tuesday, and I meant this with the utmost respect, that he is a better basketball coach than I thought he was. He taught these kids how to win. He taught these kids how to compete and believe in themselves.”
Cobb said that he was disappointed, but has no choice but to move on.
“Appalachian has been playing basketball for 100 years,” Cobb said. “We’ll be playing for 100 more. The university will survive, the athletic program will survive, the basketball program will survive.”