Dan Peterson
Dan Peterson (born January 9, 1936) is a former American professional basketball head coach. He resigned his most recent position as the head coach of Olimpia Milano in the Italian Serie A1 after the team was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2011 Italian league playoffs. The team has announced that he will assume another role (not yet announced) with the club. He is nicknamed "The Coach" for his legacy in Italian basketball.
Education
Peterson went to Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Ill. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Evanston and a masters degree from the University of Michigan.
Early career
He served as assistant coach for NAIA school McKendree College from 1962 to 1963. From 1963 to 1964 he served as freshmen coach at Michigan State. After MSU, for one season, he was plebe coach at the United States Naval Academy. The next year, at the age of 30, he became head coach at the University of Delaware. In five years there, he assembled a record of 69 wins and 49 losses.[1]
Abroad
In 1971, he went abroad, acting as head coach of the Chilean national team until 1973. Peterson took his Chilean team on a grueling tour of the United States in 1972.[2] From 1973–1978, he coached Virtus Bologna in the Italian Serie A1, winning the 1974 "Coppa Italia" and, in 1976, the Italian league title. In 1978, he was hired as head coach of Olimpia Milano where he won four Italian titles (1982, 1985, 1986, 1987), two more "Coppa Italia" awards (1986, 1987), a Korać Cup (1985) and one European Champions Cup (Euroleague), the highest title in Europe for basketball.[3]
Retirement
In 1987, he retired after coaching in Italy for 14 years, but he resumed coaching on January 3, 2011, with Olimpia Milano. He still holds records for a coach in Italian playoffs with 11 Final Four appearances in 11 years (after which a playoff format was introduced), 9 finals, 4 titles, 74 games coached, and 51 games won.
Commentator
After his retirement he became a popular sports commentator for many Italian television channels. He's currently doing color commentary on the Italian channel Sportitalia.
Awards
He received the Coach of the Year award for Europe from the WABC and the Coach of the Year for Italy twice. Following his retirement from coaching, he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.
In 2007, Peterson was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Evanston Township High School.[4]
In 2008, he was named one of the 50 most influential European club basketball personalities over the last half-century.[5]
A poll says that he is the foreigner with the most sexy voice in Italy.[6]
Comeback
On January 3, 2011 he became the new head coach of Olimpia Milano after the dismissal of Piero Bucchi.