There may be a buzz around the Appalachian State University campus in the near future.The Winston-Salem Journal's Tommy Bowman reports that sources are saying Buzz Peterson will return to Boone for a second tour of duty as Appalachian State University men's basketball head coach.
According to the report, "an announcement to name a new coach at ASU is planned for Wednesday morning."
Peterson was a primary target for the open coaching job after Houston Fancher was fired March 16, but the two sides could not reach an agreement. On April 9th, Peterson stated that he would not be accepting the position in Boone. The school shifted its search toward The Citadel coach Ed Conroy, former UNC-Charlotte head coach and current associate coach at Missouri Melvin Watkins, and Wake Forest assistant coach Pat Kelsey.
Conroy told The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., yesterday that he would remain at The Citadel. Kelsey took a job as an assistant coach at Xavier on Monday.
Peterson's statement was apparently not enough to discourage the Appalachian officials, who continued to keep lines of communication open with the coach after his statement that he would not take the job.
Under Peterson's tenure, the Mountaineers captured the SoCon tournament title and automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament in 2000. Peterson was 79-39 as coach at Appalachian.
Peterson left Boone to take the Tulsa head coach position, leading it to an NIT title in 2001, and moved on to Tennessee, where he was 61-59 with the Big Orange in four seasons before being fired. Peterson has most recently coached at Coastal Carolina for two seasons before taking his current position alongside former college roommate and teammate Michael Jordan with the Charlotte Bobcats.
Peterson, who played college basketball at North Carolina, is 201-134 in 11 seasons as a college coach.
