Carolyn Peck facts for kids
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | January 22, 1966 Jefferson City, Tennessee, U.S. |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College | Vanderbilt (1985–1988) | |||||||||||||
| 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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Carolyn Arlene Peck (born January 22, 1966) is an American sports expert. She is known for her work as a television sportscaster. She was also a successful basketball coach for college teams.
Carolyn coached the women's basketball teams at Purdue University and the University of Florida. She was also the very first head coach and general manager for the WNBA team, the Orlando Miracle. Later in her career, she returned to her old college, Vanderbilt University, as an associate head coach.
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Basketball Career
Carolyn Peck was a talented basketball player. In high school, she was 6 feet 4 inches tall and played as a center. During her senior year at Jefferson County High School in Tennessee, she was named Tennessee's Miss Basketball. She averaged 35 points and 13.2 rebounds per game!
She then played college basketball at Vanderbilt University from 1985 to 1988. There, she averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She also set a new record for Vanderbilt women's basketball by blocking 180 shots.
After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1988 with a degree in communications, Carolyn had a chance to play basketball in Spain. But she decided to work in marketing and sales instead for two years.
In 1991, she returned to basketball. She played professionally in Italy for a short time. Then, she played for two years in Japan for the Nippondenso Corporation. Her team even won the league championship during her second year there!
Coaching Career
Assistant Coach
Carolyn Peck started her coaching journey in 1993. She became an assistant coach for the Tennessee Lady Vols. She worked under the famous coach Pat Summitt for two seasons.
During her time there, the Lady Vols had amazing seasons. They won the Southeastern Conference championship both years. In 1995, they played in the NCAA Championship game. They lost to the undefeated Connecticut Huskies, who won their first national title.
After Tennessee, Peck was an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky for one season. Then, she became an assistant coach at Purdue University. The Purdue team did well, reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament. The head coach at Purdue, Nell Fortner, left to coach the USA Women's basketball team. She chose Carolyn Peck to take over as head coach.
Years later, in 2016, Carolyn returned to her old college, Vanderbilt. She became an associate head coach for the women's basketball team.
Head Coach
Purdue University
Carolyn Peck's first season as head coach at Purdue (1997–98) was a success. The team had a 23–10 record and made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. Everyone was excited for the next season because most of the team was coming back.
In 1998, the WNBA was expanding. A new team was starting in Orlando, Florida. The team's senior executive, Pat Williams, was looking for a head coach and general manager. After several other coaches turned down the job, Williams called Carolyn Peck. She accepted the job with a four-year contract in June 1998.
This created a challenge for Peck. She had to tell her Purdue team that she would be leaving after only one season. Some players felt upset and betrayed. After thinking hard about it, Peck asked Pat Williams if she could stay at Purdue for one more season. She would then join the Orlando team for the start of the WNBA season. He agreed to her request.
So, it was announced that Peck would be the first head coach and general manager of the Orlando team (later named the Miracle). But she would coach Purdue for one last season first.
The team's feelings improved after a trip to Switzerland and France for practice games. By the start of the season, the team was united. Carolyn focused only on Purdue and didn't talk about leaving.
The Purdue team, led by players like Katie Douglas, Stephanie White, and Ukari Figgs, had an amazing season. They finished the regular season with a 28–1 record. Their only loss was by one point.
Then, they won the 1999 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament! This was the first national championship in Purdue women's basketball history. They won all six of their tournament games by at least 10 points. The final game was a 62–45 victory over Duke.
Carolyn Peck made history by becoming the first African American woman to coach a women's Division I basketball national championship team. She also won many awards, including Coach of the Year from the Associated Press. She was also the first woman and first African American to win the Winged Foot Award.
At 33 years old, Carolyn Peck is the youngest person to coach a women's Division I basketball national championship team. This championship is also the only one won by a Big Ten Conference school in women's college basketball. Just two weeks after winning the title, Peck was in Orlando, getting ready for the Miracle's season.
Orlando Miracle
Carolyn Peck coached the Orlando Miracle for three seasons in the WNBA. The team had a record of 44 wins and 52 losses. They just missed the playoffs in 1999. But they did make it to the playoffs in 2000. They lost to the Cleveland Rockers in the semi-finals. Some of the key players on the team were Shannon Johnson, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales, and Sheri Sam.
University of Florida
On April 3, 2002, Carolyn Peck returned to coaching college basketball. She became the head coach for the Florida Gators women's basketball team at the University of Florida.
During her five seasons at Florida, the Gators had a record of 72 wins and 75 losses. They made it to the NCAA tournament twice. In the 2003–04 season, the team improved a lot. They went from 9 wins to 19 wins and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. In the 2005–06 season, they had 21 wins and 7 losses, earning a good seed in the NCAA tournament.
The 2006–07 season was tough for the Gators. They had a 14-game losing streak and finished with 9 wins and 22 losses. The university decided to make a change, but they allowed Peck to finish the season as coach. After leaving Florida, Carolyn Peck quickly started a new job. She was hired by ESPN as a basketball analyst.
After working for ESPN for nine years, Carolyn Peck returned to coaching. In June 2016, she became an assistant coach at her alma mater, Vanderbilt. After the 2017–18 season, Peck decided to leave coaching again and went back to working for ESPN.
Carolyn's younger brother, Michael, also worked as an assistant coach for her. He coached with her at the Orlando Miracle and the University of Florida.
USA Basketball
Carolyn Peck also helped coach for USA Basketball. In August 1997, she was an assistant coach for the USA team at the William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan.
The USA team won their first six games. Many of these games were very close. In the championship game, the USA played against undefeated South Korea. The game was close, but South Korea won the gold medal with a score of 76–71.
