Carolyn Peck
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | Jefferson City, Tennessee, U.S. | January 22, 1966||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
College | Vanderbilt (1985–1988) | ||||||||||||||
Position | Center | ||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 1993–2007, 2016–2018 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||
1993–1995 | Tennessee (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1995–1996 | Kentucky (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1996–1997 | Purdue (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1997–1999 | Purdue | ||||||||||||||
1999–2001 | Orlando Miracle | ||||||||||||||
2002–2007 | Florida | ||||||||||||||
2016–2018 | Vanderbilt (associate HC) | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Career coaching record | |||||||||||||||
WNBA | 44–52 (.458) | ||||||||||||||
NCAA | 129–87 (.597) | ||||||||||||||
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Carolyn Arlene Peck (born January 22, 1966)[1] is an American television sportscaster and former college basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's basketball teams of Purdue University and the University of Florida, and also the first head coach-general manager in the history of the WNBA's Orlando Miracle. Peck was also an associate head coach for her alma mater, Vanderbilt University.
Basketball career
As a senior at Jefferson County High School[2] in Dandridge, Tennessee, Peck, a 6-4 center, was named Tennessee's Miss Basketball after averaging 35 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. She played college basketball at Vanderbilt University from 1985 to 1988, averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She also blocked 180 shots, to break a Vanderbilt women's basketball career record.
Peck graduated from Vanderbilt with a
Peck returned to basketball in 1991, quitting her job to play professionally in Italy for three weeks, then for Japan’s Nippondenso Corporation for two years. During her second year in Japan, her team won the league championship.
Coaching career
Assistant coach
Peck's coaching career began in 1993. She returned to her home state to serve as an assistant coach for the
Peck went on to serve as an assistant coach at the
Head coach
Purdue University
During Peck's first season as head coach (1997–98), Purdue went 23–10 with an Elite Eight appearance. Things appeared to be looking up for the following season; the bulk of the team was returning.
Meanwhile, in April 1998 the young
Despite accepting this new role, Peck was faced with a dilemma: having to return to Purdue to tell her team that they would once again have to play under a new coach. After she broke the news, some of her players felt betrayed and angry, some of them even telling her so personally. So after struggling with the idea of leaving Purdue after just one season as their coach, Peck again called Williams, asking him if she could remain at Purdue for the 1998–99 season and then go to Orlando for the start of the WNBA season. He granted her request.
In July it was announced that Peck would be the first head coach and general manager of the Orlando team (now named the Miracle), and coach at Purdue for one last season.
The friction between Peck and her players eased, after the team took a preseason trip to Switzerland and France for exhibition games. By the start of the season, the team was together, and Peck would neither discuss the fact that she was leaving nor answer any questions about Orlando.
Led by
Peck was awarded the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year, the WBCA Coach of the Year, the AP College Basketball Coach of the Year and the Naismith College Coach of the Year awards in 1999.[6][7][8][9]
To date, Peck, at 33 years old, is the youngest person to coach a women's Division I basketball national championship team. The title is also the only one in women's college basketball by a Big Ten Conference school.
Orlando Miracle
During Peck's three seasons as WNBA coach, the Miracle, which featured Shannon Johnson, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales and fellow Vanderbilt graduate Sheri Sam, posted a 44–52 record, narrowly missing out on the playoffs in 1999 and qualifying for them in 2000, where they lost to the Cleveland Rockers 2 games to 1.
University of Florida
On April 3, 2002, Peck returned to coaching college basketball, this time leading the Florida Gators women's basketball team of the University of Florida.
During her five seasons at Florida (2002–03 through 2006-07), the Gators posted a 72–75 record with two NCAA tournament berths. The 2003–04 team, which posted a 19–11 record after going 9–19 the season before, was eliminated by Baylor in the second round of the 2004 NCAA tournament, after defeating New Mexico in the first round before 16,029 fans at Albuquerque. The 2005–06 team posted a 21–7 record and received a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, but this time New Mexico got revenge on Florida, defeating them by 24 points in the first round.
The 2006–07 season was a disaster—the Gators suffered through a 14-game losing streak and finished 9–22. Following the losing streak, the university fired Peck in February but allowed her to finish the season as coach. Former Florida Gators player
After 9 years of working for ESPN, Peck was hired by her alma mater (Vanderbilt) to be an assistant coach in June 2016. After the 2017-18 season, Peck stepped down from coaching to return to ESPN.
Peck's younger brother Michael served as one of her assistant coaches both with the Orlando Miracle and at the University of Florida. He is currently a coaching consultant.
USA Basketball
Peck served as the assistant coach, under head coach
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
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Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten) (1997–1999) | |||||||||
1997–98 | Purdue | 23–10 | 10–6 | T-3rd | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
1998–99 | Purdue | 34–1 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
Purdue: | 57–11 (.838) | 26–6 (.813) | |||||||
Florida Gators (SEC) (2002–2007) | |||||||||
2002–03 | Florida | 9–19 | 1–13 | T–11th | |||||
2003–04 | Florida | 19–11 | 8–6 | T-4th | NCAA second round | ||||
2004–05 | Florida | 14–15 | 5–9 | 8th | WNIT First Round | ||||
2005–06 | Florida | 21–9 | 8–6 | T-5th | NCAA first round | ||||
2006–07 | Florida | 9–22 | 2–12 | 11th | |||||
Florida: | 72–76 (.486) | 24–46 (.343) | |||||||
Total: | 129–87 (.597) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orlando | 1999 | 32 | 15 | 17 | .469 | 4th in East | - | - | - | - | Missed Playoffs |
Orlando | 2000 | 32 | 16 | 16 | .500 | 3rd in East | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost Eastern Conference Semi-Finals |
Orlando | 2001 | 32 | 13 | 19 | .406 | 5th in East | - | - | - | - | Missed Playoffs |
Career | 96 | 44 | 52 | .458 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 |
References
- ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
- ^ "Vanderbilt's Carolyn Peck a 'superstar' assistant coach". The Tennessean.
- ^ "Vanderbilt confirms hiring of coach Stephanie White". The Tennessean.
- ^ "Vacancy filled at Vanderbilt". May 23, 2016.
- ^ "Ap Cites Holdsclaw, Peck As Player, Coach Of Year". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- ^ "USBWA WOMEN'S HONORS". USBWA. Archived from the original on December 23, 2004. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ "Naismith College Coach of the Year". Atlanta Tipoff Club. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ "Past Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coaches of the Year". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
- ^ "Ap Cites Holdsclaw, Peck As Player, Coach Of Year". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ "1997 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.