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Statements from Mike Hamilton and John Peterson
Dear Friends,
Earlier today we announced that we will be moving in a new direction with the Tennessee basketball program.
We all want and expect Tennessee basketball to succeed. Coach Peterson has been a great representative of the University and the athletic department; however, we feel it is time to take the program in a new direction.
This was a tough decision to make. We took a hard look at how the program has developed over Coach Peterson's four years at Tennessee from several different angles including recruiting, player development, post season success and strategy for the future of the program. In the end, the program has not achieved the goals we set for it.
Tennessee fans as well as our administration have an expectation to compete for championships in all of our sports. For basketball, I feel that the program should be participating in post-season play with regular NCAA appearances. We have not made sufficient steps towards these expectations in the past four years.
I firmly believe that Tennessee has the resources and the fan base to be consistently successful in the Southeastern Conference, and I am committed to ensuring we do everything we can to succeed.
We have begun a nationwide search for our new coach. We have engaged former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey of Champ Sports to assist our efforts to identify, recruit and screen coaching candidates. I will direct the search and keep Dr. Petersen informed throughout the process. Out of respect for our outgoing staff, current student-athletes and prospective coaches, I will not be commenting about the search or the program until we introduce our new coach.
As always, thank you for your very loyal support of the University of Tennessee athletic programs.
Expect to win!
Go Vols!
Mike Hamilton
Men's Athletic Director
Dear Friends,
Earlier today we announced that we will be moving in a new direction with the Tennessee basketball program.
We all want and expect Tennessee basketball to succeed. Coach Peterson has been a great representative of the University and the athletic department; however, we feel it is time to take the program in a new direction.
This was a tough decision to make. We took a hard look at how the program has developed over Coach Peterson's four years at Tennessee from several different angles including recruiting, player development, post season success and strategy for the future of the program. In the end, the program has not achieved the goals we set for it.
Tennessee fans as well as our administration have an expectation to compete for championships in all of our sports. For basketball, I feel that the program should be participating in post-season play with regular NCAA appearances. We have not made sufficient steps towards these expectations in the past four years.
I firmly believe that Tennessee has the resources and the fan base to be consistently successful in the Southeastern Conference, and I am committed to ensuring we do everything we can to succeed.
We have begun a nationwide search for our new coach. We have engaged former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey of Champ Sports to assist our efforts to identify, recruit and screen coaching candidates. I will direct the search and keep Dr. Petersen informed throughout the process. Out of respect for our outgoing staff, current student-athletes and prospective coaches, I will not be commenting about the search or the program until we introduce our new coach.
As always, thank you for your very loyal support of the University of Tennessee athletic programs.
Expect to win!
Go Vols!
Mike Hamilton
Men's Athletic Director
