Carolyn Arlene Peck (born January 22, 1966) is an American television sportscaster and former college basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's basketball teams of

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, and also the first head coach-

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in the history of the WNBA's

Orlando Miracle The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut ...

. Peck was also an associate head coach for her alma mater,

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Early life

Carolyn Peck was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee. She has praised her family as her biggest influence, saying they showed her the importance of supporting each other. Peck says her mom and grandmothers taught her to work hard and appreciate life and family. Her brother Michael also became a basketball coach, and Peck hired him as her assistant coach for the Orlando Miracle in 2001. He is currently a coaching consultant.

Basketball career

As a senior at Jefferson County High School 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

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. She was team captain for her last two seasons. Peck graduated from Vanderbilt with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

in 1988. She passed up an opportunity to play professionally in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to work as a marketing consultant at a

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

television station, as well as sell

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

products for a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company for two years. Peck returned to basketball in 1991, quitting her job to play professionally in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for three weeks, then for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

’s Nippondenso Corporation for two years. During her second year in Japan, her team won the league championship. She was third in the league for rebounding in 1991 and 1992.

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

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Lady Vols The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA women's basketball competition. The team has been a contender for national titles for over forty years, having made every NCAA W ...

under coach

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time ...

for two seasons. The Lady Vols posted 30-win seasons and won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

championship during both seasons: 31–2 in 1993–94, and 34–3 in 1994–95. The latter team lost to the undefeated,

Rebecca Lobo Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin (born October 6, 1973) is an American television basketball analyst and former professional women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2003. Lobo, at 6'4", played the cent ...

-led

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

in the NCAA Championship game, the school's and head coach

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

's first national championship. Peck went on to serve as an assistant coach at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

during the 1995–96 season. After this season, she received another assistant coaching job, this time at

under Nell Fortner, who had just replaced the fired

Lin Dunn Lin Dunn (born May 10, 1947) is an American women's basketball executive and former coach, who is currently a senior advisor with the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA. She was recently the general manager of the ...

. The Boilermakers finished 17–11 during the 1996–97 season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. At the end of this season, Fortner was offered the position of head coach of the USA Women's basketball team for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and was leaving

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

. She handed over the reins of head coach to Peck, who became Purdue's third head coach in as many seasons. After time as a head coach and in broadcasting, in 2016 Peck joined Vanderbilt's women's basketball team as an associate head coach under Stephanie White.

USA Basketball

Peck served as the assistant coach, under head coach

Gail Goestenkors Gail Ann Goestenkors (born February 26, 1963) is an American basketball coach who was most recently an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team. She is perhaps best known as the women's college basketball head coach of ...

, for the USA representative to the 1997

William Jones Cup The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament (), also known as the William Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in sports, 1977 ...

competition. The event was held in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

during August 1997. The USA team won their first six games. Four of the six were decided by six points or fewer, including the semifinal game against Japan which went to overtime. In the gold medal game, the USA faced undefeated South Korea. The USA team played to a six-point margin early in the second half, but could not extend the margin. South Korea came back, took the lead, and held on to win the championship and the gold medal 76–71.

Head coach

Purdue University

During Peck's first season as head coach (1997–98), Purdue went 23–10 with an Elite Eight appearance. She became the third coach for Purdue's women's basketball team to accomplish an Elite Eight appearance in her first season as head coach. Things appeared to be looking up for the following season; the bulk of the team was returning. Meanwhile, in April 1998 the young WNBA announced that it was expanding from ten teams to twelve, with one of the new franchises to be based in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. Pat Williams, senior executive vice president of the Orlando team-to-be, began his search to find a head coach–general manager. The original list of prospects had six candidates, including Summitt, Duke's

and Florida's Carol Ross— but not Peck. After all six candidates turned down the offer, Williams then called Peck upon the recommendation of both Ross and Goestenkors. In June 1998 Peck accepted the job with a four-year contract. 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 A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

), 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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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. The Purdue Boilermakers opened their 1998-1999 season by upsetting the Lady Vols and ending their 46-game winning streak. The Lady Vols had been the top-ranked team and three-time defending NCAA champions. Led by Katie Douglas, Stephanie White and Ukari Figgs, the Boilermakers posted a 28–1 record during the regular season, the lone loss coming by one point against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. The team won the

1999 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 1999 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 12, 1999, and concluded on March 28, 1999, when Purdue won its first national championship in any women's sport. The Final Four was held at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, Ca ...

, which was the first national championship in Purdue women's basketball history, winning all six of its games by at least 10 points, including a 62–45 victory over Duke in the title game. Peck became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to coach a women's Division I basketball national championship team; she has since been joined by

Dawn Staley Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers an ...

, who coached

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

to the 2017 National Championship. Peck was named Women's Basketball Coach of the Year by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, as well as becoming the first woman and the first African American to win the Winged Foot Award (which honored the best coach in college basketball) from the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

. Two weeks after guiding Purdue to the title, Peck was in Orlando preparing the Miracle for their upcoming season. 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 The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

awards in 1999. The title is the only one, to date, in women's college basketball by a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

school.

Orlando Miracle

Peck started as the Orlando Miracle's head coach on April 1, 1999, after the end of the Boilermaker's championship season. She stated that it was difficult to assemble a team from scratch, and spent the first season focusing on building unity between the players. The team's first season had a record of 15-17, tying for second place in the Eastern Conference, and was one game away from qualifying for the playoffs. Peck became ESPN's expert guest analyst for the playoffs that year. During Peck's three seasons as WNBA coach, the Miracle, which featured Shannon Johnson,

Taj McWilliams-Franklin Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has spanned ...

Nykesha Sales Nykesha Simone Sales (born May 10, 1976) is an American assistant coach at the University of Georgia. She is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, as well as playing in the Bosnian league for the ZKK Mladi Krajisnik club. Her pri ...

and fellow Vanderbilt graduate

Sheri Sam Sheri Lynette Sam (born May 5, 1974) is an American professional women's basketball coach and player who played in the WNBA. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana as the youngest of eight siblings, and where she was a standout at Acadi ...

, posted a 44–52 record. They qualified for the playoffs in 2000, where they lost to the

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon ...

2 games to 1. This was the first time a WNBA team reached the playoffs so quickly after their formation, and the team was the first non-charter WNBA team to win a playoff game. In 2000, Peck coached the WNBA On Tour Eastern Team, which played exhibition games in non-WNBA cities. In 2001, Peck hired her brother Michael as an assistant coach for the Miracle, and they became the first brother-sister coaching team for the WNBA.

University of Florida

On April 3, 2002, Peck returned to coaching college basketball, this time leading the

Florida Gators women's basketball The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gator ...

team of the

. Peck's younger brother Michael again served as her assistant coach. 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 New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the first round before 16,029 fans at

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. 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 Amanda Butler replaced Peck for the 2007–08 season.

Analyst career

Peck was not out of basketball for long after the 2006-2007 season:

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

hired her as a basketball analyst within months. 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 has commented on the gendered expectations of women athletes and the growing recognition of women's basketball as a sport and not just a "women's sport."

Head coaching record

College

WNBA

, - , align="left" ,

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, align="left" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, 32, , 15, , 17, , , , align="center" , 4th in East, , -, , -, , -, , - , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, 32, , 16, , 16, , , , align="center" , 3rd in East, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , align="center" , Lost Eastern Conference Semi-Finals , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, 32 , , 13, , 19, , , , align="center" , 5th in East, , -, , -, , -, , - , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , -class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , , , 96, , 44, , 52, , , , , , 3, , 1, , 2, ,

References

External links

*
Peck on Super-Hair.net "Ultimate 50"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Carolyn 1966 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Florida Gators women's basketball coaches Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches Las Vegas Aces announcers Orlando Miracle coaches People from Jefferson City, Tennessee Sportspeople from Jefferson County, Tennessee Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball coaches Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coaches Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball players American women sports commentators Women's National Basketball Association general managers 20th-century American sportswomen