Bobcats Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Bernie Bickerstaff announced Monday that Buzz Peterson has accepted an offer to become the Bobcats Director of Player Personnel. Bickerstaff also announced that Dell Curry and Paul Mokeski will be added to Sam Vincent’s coaching staff for the 2007-08 season, joining Phil Ford, Lee Rose and Jeff Capel on the Bobcats bench.

Another basketball operations staff appointment was made today, as former Bobcats assistant coach John Outlaw was named Player Programs/Director of Pro Player Personnel.

“We are committed to building a winning organization from the top down” Bickerstaff said. “In Buzz, we’ve hired a guy who has a natural feel for the game and knowledge that will benefit our coaching and scouting staff.

Bickerstaff continued to say that adding Curry and Mokeski will benefit the Bobcats young group of players. “With their individual on-court experiences, it can only help accelerate the growth of our team.’

Peterson will be the Bobcats top evaluator of on-court talent, both internally and externally, around the NBA and college ranks. He joins the organization after serving as head coach at Coastal Carolina for the past two seasons. Peterson directed the Chanticleers to the program’s first winning season in 12 years after posting a 20-10 record during the 2005-06 season.

Prior to his tenure at Coastal Carolina, Peterson held college head coaching positions at the University of Tennessee, University of Tulsa and Appalachian State University, compiling an overall coaching record of 201-134. Peterson began his coaching career as an assistant at Appalachian State before joining Les Robinson’s staff at East Tennessee State for one year and later moving with Robinson to North Carolina State for the next three years. He also served as associate head coach at Vanderbilt for one season.

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 in 1981. During his four years as a collegian at the University of North Carolina, Peterson helped the Tar Heels to a 115-22 mark, four Atlantic Coast Conference championships, one ACC Tournament title and four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He was a part of UNC’s 1982 national championship team and was voted the outstanding senior by his teammates following the 1984-85 season.

Curry is a 16-year NBA veteran who played 10 seasons in Charlotte for the Hornets. In 1,083 career games, he averaged 11.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting .457 from the field and .843 from the charity stripe. He is ranked 22nd on the NBA’s all-time list for three-point field goal percentage (.402) and 17th with 1,245 made three-pointers. The 1993-94 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award winner began his Bobcats tenure in October of 2003 as director of basketball relations before moving into the role as director of player development. This will mark Curry’s first stint as an NBA assistant coach.

Mokeski joins the Bobcats coaching staff after most recently serving as an assistant coach with the National Basketball Association’s D-League affiliate Fort Worth Flyers. Prior to his one-year stint in Fort Worth, he spent five seasons with the Dallas Mavericks in a dual role as player development coach and advance scout. Mokeski also spent three years as head coach in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the United States Basketball League (USBL) and a additional three years as an assistant coach on the CBA and college level. A 12-year NBA veteran, Mokeski played for five different teams, including the Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks.

Outlaw has been with the Bobcats organization since its inception. He will use his 37-plus years of NBA, NFL and collegiate administrative, playing and coaching experience to provide guidance and help players develop life skills, both professionally and socially. He will also assist them with plans for life after basketball. Outlaw spent seven seasons with the Denver Nuggets, two with the Washington Wizards, two with the USBL’s St. Louis Storm and three with the Bobcats. He also enjoyed an 11-year NFL career as a cornerback with the New England Patriots (1968-73) and Philadelphia Eagles (1973-79). Following his playing career, Outlaw served as defensive coordinator at North Carolina Central University for 11 seasons and, while there, served as director for the National Youth Sports Program.


June 18, 2007

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770617010

From Boone to Tulsa to Knoxville to Myrtle Beach to Charlotte, Jan Peterson knows the drill by now.

Four times since 2000, the Mars Hill native and wife of Buzz Peterson has packed her family that includes three children and moved to a new city as her husband continued his career in basketball.

Throw in the four jobs Peterson had as an assistant coach in addition to his four head coaching jobs in college basketball, and the family will soon settle into its ninth different address over the past 20 years.

Peterson’s ninth life came this week, and it takes him away from coaching and the college ranks for the first time.

The allure to work for and with his best friend proved more powerful than running a program at the lower end of Division I.

Reuniting with his college roommate Michael Jordan, the Asheville High legend accepted his buddy’s offer to become director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats.

“That was a large portion of the decision, the chance to work with Michael,” Peterson said earlier this week after resigning his post as head coach at Coastal Carolina.

“We’ve been talking about this for several months, but lately we got more serious and down to specifics about what I would be doing.”

Peterson’s specific duties still sound vague but will include scouting and evaluating personnel while he learns the NBA game.

“I’ve watched a lot of NBA, but obviously I have a lot to learn about the pro game,” he said.

“Where I’m going to help Michael is by being upfront with him. He and I have had plenty of disagreements and arguments, but at the end we’ll put our arms around each other and still be close.

“He knows I’m not going to sugar coat anything because he’s Michael Jordan. I’ll tell him the truth about whether this guy can play or not or whether that guy can help us win basketball games.”

The move to Charlotte also brings Jan and Buzz closer to their parents, all of whom live in WNC.

“When I was in Boone and Knoxville (as head coach at Appalachian State and Tennessee), we would see our family a few times a month,” he said.

“Being down at Coastal, we haven’t seen them since Christmas. This puts us closer to home in Asheville.”

A nomadic figure who has never stayed in the same place for more than four seasons as a coach, Peterson admits he hasn’t closed the door on coaching or college basketball.

“I’m committed to this, but if the right opportunity came up I would pursuit it. Being a (general manager) of an NBA team would be something to look at down the road,” he said. “Right now I just want to learn all I can about the pro game and be able to help the Bobcats win. I’m coming in with a clean slate.”

And with college basketball practice a few months away, Peterson is already wondering how much he will miss coaching. He posted a 201-134 record in 11 seasons at ASU, Tulsa, UT and Coastal.

“The hard part will come in October when it’s time to start practice,” Peterson said. “That’s what I’ve been doing and loved to do for 20 years, so I know it’s going to be tough.

“But at the same time I’m excited to be starting new chapter in my life.”


June 12, 2007

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/12/ap3814779.html 

Buzz Peterson is leaving coaching to join Michael Jordan. Peterson resigned Tuesday as coach at Coastal Carolina to become director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Jordan, Peterson's former college roommate and teammate at North Carolina, is part-owner of the Bobcats and has final say on all basketball decisions.

Peterson was 35-25 in two seasons with the Chanticleers, who hired him after he was fired as Tennessee's coach in 2005. Before his four seasons with the Volunteers, Peterson coached at Tulsa and Appalachian State.

"We appreciate everything that Buzz has done for the program and Coastal Carolina University since he arrived two years ago," athletic director Warren Koegel said. "This is an opportunity that he felt he could not pass up. We wish Buzz and his family all the best as they start this new phase of their lives."

Peterson, 201-134 in 11 seasons as a head coach, is the latest Jordan confidant to join the Bobcats since Jordan bought into the team last summer. Team president Fred Whitfield and general manager Rod Higgins worked with Jordan when he ran the Washington Wizards, while new coach Sam Vincent played with Jordan on the Chicago Bulls.

Last week, former North Carolina point guard Phil Ford left the New York Knicks to join the Bobcats as an assistant coach.

Peterson was a senior at Asheville High School when he beat out Jordan as North Carolina's player of the year. Peterson then played with and roomed with Jordan, and the pair helped the Tar Heels win the 1982 national championship.

Peterson's hiring completes a shakeup in the basketball operations for the Bobcats, who just completed their third season.

Bernie Bickerstaff, coach and general manager since the team's inception, stepped down from both jobs and became executive vice president. Vincent and Higgins were hired to fill Bickerstaff's previous roles, while Peterson will head the team's scouting department.

Jordan tried to persuade Peterson to join the team for several months, but Peterson wanted time to decide whether to leave coaching.

Peterson met with Jordan and other Bobcats officials over the weekend. He returned to Coastal Carolina and told Koegel of his decision Tuesday. He then met with his players.

A search for Peterson's replacement at Coastal Carolina will begin immediately, Koegel said.


June 12, 2007

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=204154

Conway, SC (Sports Network) - Coastal Carolina University head men's basketball coach Buzz Peterson is leaving the school to become the director of player personnel for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

Peterson will reunite with former-college teammate and Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan. The twosome led the Tar Heels to the 1982 National Championship.

"We appreciate everything that Buzz has done for the program and Coastal Carolina University since he arrived two years ago," said Coastal Carolina athletic director Warren Koegel. "This is an opportunity that he felt he could not pass up. We wish Buzz and his family all the best as they start this new phase of their lives."

Peterson compiled a 35-25 mark in two seasons at Coastal Carolina. In 11 years as a college head coach that included stops at Tennessee and Tulsa, Peterson has an overall record of 201-134.

A search for Peterson's replacement will begin immediately.