Coaching

Coastal Carolina head coach Buzz Peterson has announced that he accepted a position as director of player personnel with the Charlotte Bobcats. Peterson is long-time friends with the Bobcats’ managing partner, Michael Jordan. "I don't think timing's good no matter what if you're doing this," Peterson said. "I told the assistant coaches we need to make sure we put our arms around and answer all the questions for these young men. They made a commitment to us at Coastal Carolina. Timing's bad, but I didn't want to prolong it longer and longer." Peterson was 35-25 in two seasons with the Chanticleers, who had eleven consecutive losing seasons before Peterson arrived.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando Magic will allow former Florida head coach Billy Donovan to return to the Gators. "It's over," said a source close to the situation. Donovan, who agreed to a 5-year, $27.5 million deal on Friday but reportedly regretted it soon thereafter, discussed the matter over the weekend with both Magic General Manager Otis Smith and President Bob Vander Weide. Unless Donovan wakes up today and changes his mind, the Magic will let him go, the source said. Donovan has won back-to-back championships with Florida; the leading candidate to replace him was VCU's Anthony Grant, who said Sunday that he has not met with anyone from Florida yet.

Rumors out of Orlando are that Billy Donovan is set to accept the Orlando Magic's head coaching position. Reports suggest that the Magic's offer is in the $6 million a year range, but this is only speculation. No official word has been released by Donovan or the Magic, but a decision is expected to be made within the week.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Florida coach Billy Donovan about what lies ahead for the hottest head coach in basketball. He discusses the new deal that he and Florida are trying to work out—and why a deal has not been reached yet. "I have trust in Jeremy and Dr. Machen, and so really it's not in my hands," Donovan said. "It's really in the University of Florida's hands. I understand that it is a process that they are going to have to go through." Donovan also talks about a possible NBA coaching job in the future, as well as the 06-07 Gators. “I just think you have to consider those guys one of the best teams of all time,” he said.

According to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, sources around the Syracuse program expect current assistant Mike Hopkins to be named the eventual successor to current head coach Jim Boeheim. Hopkins, who has been an assistant at SU for twelve seasons, also played under Boeheim at Syracuse. Arrangements like this have been made at schools such as Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Gonzaga in the past, a way for tenured head coaches to have a say in who takes over when they decide to move on. But with this being said, Coach Boeheim has no intentions of stepping down any time soon, and the announcement should quiet any negative recruiting by other programs.

Dick “Hoops” Weiss of FOXSports.com writes about how Memphis coach John Calipari is using a very similar method to build up the Tigers as he did with Massachusetts in the 90s. Calipari recruits in a way that most coaches don’t, he plays a difficult schedule, and the Tigers dominate Conference-USA. "BCS teams all want to do the Wal-Mart thing,'' Calipari said. “They all want to dominate the world. We're like a thorn in their side. Here we are, just like the UMass days. We've bumped into their parade, their party.''

Florida State assistant coach Tim Carter has been named the head coach at South Carolina Sate, replacing the fired Jamal Brown. "They really, really want to turn that thing around," Carter said. "They're putting a lot of resources into the job, and they really want to be a major player in that league." Carter formerly coached at Texas-San Antonio, going 160-152 in 11 seasons. He was an assistant at Florida State for one season, and was also an assistant at Oklahoma State before taking the job at UTSA.

With the coaching carousel winding down lately, FOX Sports’ Jeff Goodman takes a look at who might be in the mix for a new head coaching position after next season. VCU’s Anthony Grant tops the “hot” head coaches list, followed by Tony Bennett of Washington State, Marquette’s Tom Crean, Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois, Nevada’s Mark Fox, and several others. He also discusses ten assistant coaches who could get a head coaching spot next year, led by Derek Kellogg of Memphis. Duke’s Chris Collins and Georgetown’s Robert Burke follow him

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended their search for a new coach on Tuesday, hiring former Miami (Fl.) and Tulane head coach Perry Clark to replace Ronnie Arrow. Arrow resigned after this past season to accept the head coaching position at South Alabama. "Perry Clark is a proven winner, on and off the basketball floor, and we are fortunate at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to have a man of his knowledge, experience and integrity leading our basketball program," athletic director Brian Teter said. Clark was 250-199 in 15 seasons with the Hurricanes and the Green Wave, reaching the NCAA Tournament four times. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Penn State and Georgia Tech. He has been working as a TV analyst for the past three seasons after being fired by Miami (Fl.).

According to Andy Katz of ESPN.com, South Alabama will hire Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow to become their next head coach. Arrow will replace John Pelphrey, who was hired at Arkansas earlier this month. Arrow has coached at Corpus Christi since 1998, guiding them from a new Division-I program to the NCAA Tournament this past season. Interestingly, Arrow was already the head coach at South Alabama for seven seasons in the late 80s and early 90s, going 114-93 and reaching two NCAA Tournaments. The official announcement will be made on Tuesday.