They talk about UC basketball, cigars, food, his background and his friendship with Bob Huggins.

By Bill "CigarBoy" Kintner

Dan Peters is the associate head coach for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. He has been a good friend with Bob Huggins for nearly 30 years. He tells how they met at a basketball camp, then became good friends, coached at Walsh College together and then reunited at the University of Cincinnati.

Dan really gives a behind the scenes look at what goes on at one of the top programs in the country. He really has an amazing relationship with Bob Huggins and he is responsible for large parts of the program.

I sat down with Dan in the beginning of the season, so a few things have transpired that make a several minor parts of this interview a little dated. But it will still be interesting for most hoops fans.

CigarBoy: Talk to me about this Bearcat team. The expectations are through the roof.

Peters: Well, we're a talented group; there's no question about that. I think we're long, we're fairly athletic, we have size inside in Rob Whaley and Jason Maxiell. Kareem Johnson has gotten stronger. I think the other spot where we have size really is the wing spots, with Armein Kirkland who's about 6'8 1/2 " and James White, he's 6'7" and a good athlete. So we could have mismatches at those positions. And then I think if you take a look at the one and the two spots, I am not sure if we have a pure point guard. I think we have some quality players and right now we have been working with Nick Williams, who again is 6'3", with long arms. Chadd Moore, who was a freshman last year for us has kind of had a back problem. We really need Chadd. Some days in practice he doesn't practice; some days he can go an hour and then he has to sit out for half an hour ‘cause it bothers him. But if we can keep him healthy, that would help our depth there. There's no question about that. The other guy at that position is Jamaal Lucas, who's been with us three years. He's a walk on, but he's been with us for three years. And then if you look at the two spot, you've got Field Williams back, who's not a great athlete. Field Williams is probably the one guy on our team who is not a great athlete, but he's a very good standstill shooter. And then you have Tony Bobbitt, who's a very good athlete. He has the biggest vertical jump on the team and is a very good shooter. So if you look at us, you know from 1 through 10, I would say that we probably have as much talent, 1 through 10, as we've had here in awhile. And the question is just going to be, "How does it all filter on out with what roles we play, who does what, can we get our point guard situation worked out?" But we definitely have enough material to have a great season.

CigarBoy: Let's talk about some of the newer players. You substantially increased your height. Start with Robert Whaley. He looks good...I saw a quote in a publication that said he is "one foolish decision away from wrecking the team."

Peters: Well, see, I'll be honest with you, Bill. I have found Robert Whaley a pleasure to work with, extremely coachable, wants to be a good player. Where I get upset with people is, sometimes, if they knew this kid at all, and his background...I'd like to see them do half as well as this kid's done. Now, he's had some situations, but most of the time those situations are blown so out of proportion. But, you know what? This kid has a heart as big as the state of Ohio. On top of that, he is an unbelievably talented individual. There's no doubt in my mind...like before we were done with pre-season, before we started practice, we test all of our kids and he was 15% body fat. Now if he gets down to 10% body fat (like most of our kids are anywhere from 5 to 9% body fat)...when he gets down there, you're going to see a whole other level of player. And potentially, if you look at his skills, his size, his unselfishness on the court - you're talking about somebody that, if he really buys into what we ask him to do, there's no reason why this young man couldn't be a lottery pick someday. And personally, I wouldn't trade Robert Whaley for anybody. Maybe he's had some situations, some problems, but once you get to know him - once you really do the research of what really happened and you see how he acts and carries himself, he's not a prima donna, he's not selfish, he's fun to be around. He knows that he's not a great player right now compared to where he could be. He knows that. He's not an ignorant person so I think if we can get him to where we want him, I think we have a chance to be very special.

CigarBoy: Are you looking at him more for the offensive side or more on the defense?

Peters: Well, I think he probably needs to learn more (obviously) at the defensive end of the court. But at the offensive end, he's unbelievable! I haven't been around kids; a 6'10" kid that's 260 pounds, 270 pounds that can lead the break. I mean he's as good in the middle of the break as anyone we have. He can shoot the 15-18 foot jump shot and shoot a very high percentage. He can post up; he commands a double team and what I like about him is he's totally unselfish when he's double-teamed he's an excellent passer, he finds the open guy. Now you go to the other end of the court, defensively, I don't know if he's ever been coached or pushed to play really good defense. The other phase in his game that he's got to improve on is his rebounding. He's not a great rebounder, but we're working with him on that.

CigarBoy: In terms of becoming good defensively, is it repetition in practice that makes someone good? Or do you just have to be out there and learn where you've got to be? What would it take to make someone like him a good defensive player?

Peters: Obviously, I think the first thing is he has to have an understanding of what you want conceptually. Of how you want to play a man in relation to where the ball is, if you're talking about man to man defense. Once, and you can see it - especially in new players, you're putting in a system and they're learning new things and they're not moving real well because they're thinking about things. Now once he learns it, then it becomes just a matter of repetition and it becomes a matter of really wanting to do it. And there's no question in my mind that he wants to do it. I think the last thing about him would be, at least at the defensive end, is he has to learn to play through the entire play; you can't go 20 seconds and think ‘whoa, I did a great job.' ‘Well, (sarcastically) whew! Your guy just scored; you didn't box him out. You didn't help here; you didn't call out the screen.' And that's hard, especially when you're playing against the caliber of players at this level with the game moving so quick and guys being as strong as they are. So, I think once all that comes in he will be fine and the good thing is he wants to do it.

CigarBoy: Tell me a little about James White.

Peters: If I were a player, personally, I would love playing with him because he's got a great understanding of the game and he really passes the ball. Now, everybody always talks about his jumping ability - he is spectacular when he jumps. You know, sometimes he shoots the ball really well, but I think he has a great feel of how to play. He knows where to go with the ball. I love it in practice when he says, "I'll find ya. I'll find ya if you're open." And he does. And guys love playing with him. If I was going to pick one guy out, it would probably be either him or Rob Whaley - just because of their attitude and the way they look at the game. They're not selfish players and they both can pass.

CigarBoy: What have you got, a total of five new players? By my count. Is that right?

Peters: Well, you have Rob Whaley, James White, Nick Williams, Mike Pilgrim, and Souleymane. Souleymane is from Africa. .

CigarBoy: He's 6'10". Is that right?

Peters: Uh, 6'9". Good kid. Speaks seven languages. Is learning English. But it's funny, when you watch Souley, he will stand on the side in practice, observe and observe and watch and watch. And when he gets in there he really knows what's going on. He's obviously a very intelligent individual because he picks stuff up. I'll be honest with you; he picks stuff up quicker than some of the guys we've had here.

CigarBoy: Mike Pilgrim is 6'7"?

Peters: 6'7", 6'8".

CigarBoy: That's four guys: 6'10", 6'7", 6'9", 6'8". That's some height.

Peters: Yeah. That is some height and they're good athletes. Mike has had a stress fracture. He did not practice basically all pre-season, but he's a very, very good athlete and Mike is the kind of guy where he's a much better player than I thought he was going to be. He could really, really be good down the line. I think when you look at him at the end of his sophomore year, junior and senior year, you're looking at a guy that could really be a very, very good player.

CigarBoy: Let's talk about Nick Williams.

Peters: Nick is a very skilled basketball player. In pre-season, of all the players, well besides Rob Whaley, I was most impressed with Nick. I mean he's as fast as Kenny Satterfield with the basketball but he's a much better ball handler in terms of changing pace, changing direction, using both his right and left hand. He is an excellent shooter. Now the problem is we're trying to convert him to point guard and you can see him struggling with that. This has been very difficult for Nick. It's not that Nick isn't trying. His whole life I think the ball always came to him and he was the guy shooting it. I mean you're talking about a guy who can really shoot the ball; he can create his own shot and now all a sudden we're asking him to be a point guard. And he's gone from a guy who has all these skills to sometimes in practice he's dribbling off his foot and he's missing really easy shots. It's because he's thinking. He's trying and we're not going to give up on him. I mean he's going to be our starting point guard. I think he's going to be a really good player. He's long and, as soon as he stops thinking, then just plays the game and let it come to him, he will be fine. I think he came here because he wanted to get better. He's already gotten stronger in the weight room; there's no question about that. It's just going to take a little bit of time.

CigarBoy: One of the returning players that kind of intrigues me is Jason Maxiell. How has his role on the team changed from last year?

Peters: Well first of all, one thing about Max - when I think about Max - like we talk about how you got to be a man. Well, Max is a man. He's 252 pounds. He comes out every single day in practice and we go for three hours every day. And there's no slacking or anything like that. And most of these new guys find this like a new world for them. Well, Max is used to it; he's tough. He can go for three hours. He can go hard. I think the thing that is going to benefit Max more than anything is having Rob Whaley there because they're going to have to put their bigger guy on Rob, and if they double team with a post guy on Whaley, Max is going to clean up on the backside. He's going to get the dump off passes. There's no way a perimeter guy can take Jason Maxiell off the boards. You can just forget that; that's not happening. I don't care how big that kid is, Max is too strong. And in addition to being strong, he has got a toughness about him. He's going to really benefit about as much as anybody. Maybe more so playing with Rob. The other thing where I think Max has gotten better is his skill level has improved. You know, basically all he could do in the past was catch the ball and shoot that turn around jump shot turning to his left shoulder. Now he has some other moves he's worked very hard on: getting some up-and-unders, turning the right shoulder, stepping out, squaring up, and shooting the jump shots. Max has improved a lot in the two years since he's been here.

CigarBoy: What does the Big East mean to UC basketball, going to the Big East?

Peters: Well, obviously, the Big East - the way it's going to work out - with the exposure that we're going to get, the Big East will reach more of a population than any league in this country. It will reach a larger population base than the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, or the PAC-10. So I think you're going to see a league that from top to bottom will be the best basketball league in the country. The exposure that we're going to gain is going to be tremendous. I think now, especially in the Midwest, you know if you go to recruit an individual from the Midwest, he's going to have a choice between the Big East and the Big Ten. In the past when you said Conference USA to kids, um, I'm not sure how excited they'd get about that. But the thing was, about UC, I don't know how much it's going to impact our recruiting because we've basically been able to recruit good players. We may get a few more kids from the East Coast but the one thing is, night in and night out, you're going to have to come and play every night or you'll get beat.

CigarBoy: Talk a little bit about you. You are best friends with Bob Huggins. You guys go way back. How did you and Coach Huggins meet up?

Peters: Well I used to work his father's basketball camp and the first time I ever went there I was young, I was real young. And I had known him a little bit while we were in high school - not real well, but I knew him a little bit.

CigarBoy: You and he went to different high schools?

Peters: Yeah. Actually in different counties. I'm from Canton, Ohio. He's from Port Washington, Ohio. They're a county or two away from each other. But when I worked the camp his father said "Go to this station and you work with my son, Bob." Well to be honest with you, the first day or two I don't know if Bob and I said one word to one another but we worked together six years straight, seven weeks straight in the summer, and we're out on this asphalt court - it's probably at least 90 degrees because there's no shade. There's no water; there's no running water. We were kind of in this cornfield basically. We just became very, very good friends. We've always since that time, probably even when we weren't together, talked at least three or four times per week and I suppose, philosophically, we're kind of the same in what we believe. And now obviously personality-wise we're different but we've always been good friends. We've always been, uh, what made it special with us over the years is we were always very honest with each other about what we thought. We were always able to disagree with each other without being disagreeable. We accepted each other and respected each other and that's never changed over twenty-five years.

CigarBoy: I guess the question people are asking as they're sitting home reading this is "How often do you win an argument with Bob Huggins?"

Peters: This is going to surprise a lot of people but Bob is a great listener. Bob Huggins doesn't always "have to win" - what he's interested in is what's best for the situation. And I think if you have a case and you state your case, the reasons why, there's no doubt that he goes back and he'll think about it. And I honestly would say this, 95% of the things - maybe even more - that I suggest, he does them. Now sometimes I think he just takes my word as the Gospel because we're such good friends and he doesn't question it. You'd think he'd question it all the time, and he really doesn't. I think one of his greatest strengths, maybe his greatest, is he listens. And that's the thing I've tried telling people over the years is, you know, it's not like he's got to win every battle because he doesn't. You know I think he's a guy who'll lose some battles to win the war. He's not foolish when it comes to that. And not only does he listen to me but more importantly, I think, he's willing to listen to his players. And that's what I think people are surprised about when I tell them that.

CigarBoy: Do you ever give him a bum steer to see if he's listening?

Peters: No. (Both laugh) No, (still chuckling) we don't need any more controversy in our lives.

CigarBoy: Go back, and walk me through how you guys coach together. I guess the first time you hooked up was Walsh College? Did he invite you on his staff or were you doing something else? Looking for a job?

Peters: No, actually his father was going to take the job and at the time I was working at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. His father called me and said, "Hey, I'm going to take the job at Walsh College and I want you to come and be my assistant." And I can remember telling him, "Charlie, you're not going to Walsh College." It's not going to happen. And I just - again you got to know Charlie - long story short, when they couldn't work out the contract, he said, "Well, talk to my son, Bob. He'll take the job." Basically Bob never had to go through the interview. They just said, ‘Hey would you take this job?' They kind of low-balled him and he said "I'll take the job if you're going to pay me what you were going to pay my father. Otherwise, I'm not taking the job. And they had asked him, "Well, if Bob gets a job what will happen to Dan?" because that's one of the things that Charlie had said is that ‘I want to hire Dan Peters as my assistant.' And he goes "Oh, they're best of friends; it won't be a problem." So when Bob got the job, he said, "Hey, do you want to come?" And I'll be honest, I grew up seven miles from Walsh. I was going back home. I said ‘fine' and we had a great run. That was fun. Our first year we were 14-16, but I honestly think we did as good of a job coaching that team with players that weren't very good, as maybe any group he's ever coached. You know when you're 14-16, you're not happy, but you know, we were young, we were 26 years old. We were on top of the world and we just knew we had to get better. The second year we were very fortunate to recruit the guys that we did. Bob had known most of the kids that we ended up getting from either his dad's camps or from running the camps at Ohio State. So all the sudden, our second year, we've got some quality, quality players and we go 23-9. And then the following year, which was his last year, we go 34-1 with a great team. And then he moved on from there; he left and went to Central Florida. I stayed on at Walsh as the Athletic Director and the Head Coach. And a year later the Akron job opened up. Now it's kind of funny how things work out. The President of the University of Akron was also at that time on the Board of Trustees at Walsh College. So there was really only one candidate for the job. Now they may have interviewed other people for the job. Obviously they made the right choice in bringing Bob to Akron. When he went there and he asked me to go with him to Akron but I had only been head coach one year and I thought I needed to get more experience at that level, so I stayed on at Walsh. He was at Akron for five years and then of course he left Akron and came down here and he has been down here ever since. So at that time I had gone then to Western Carolina, which was a Division I school as an assistant and then I went back to Akron as and assistant coach. then I went to St. Joseph's as head coach over in Rensselaer, Indiana. It is the same league that Northern Kentucky's in - the Great Lakes Valley. Then after a couple years there, I went to Youngstown State as the Head Coach. So, we've always been friends, we've always communicated with each other, we've always talked and shared in ideas. And it's kind of scary, now. I told a student manager the other day, "You know, it's really scary. I can almost tell you what he's going to say when he starts saying it." Whether he's happy, upset, or whatever; I think I've been around him too long now. (Both laugh.)

CigarBoy: He'd probably say the same thing about you.

Peters: Oh, I'm sure he does. We know each other too well.

CigarBoy: Now you're a head coach at Youngstown State, starting to have some success there. How did you get down to Cincinnati?

Peters: Well, you know, when I went to Youngstown, I knew it was a very difficult situation. I'll be honest with you, if I would have known the situation, after three weeks I would have left. But my assistant got the job at St Joe's and if that job was still open I would have gone back to St. Joe's because I thought it was an impossible situation in terms of the condition of that program. The one thing you know for sure is you don't get many chances to be head coach. And I would tell anybody that's looking for a job, you better pick one that's got a chance to be successful - and they all do, don't get me wrong - some are just harder than others. The first year we won five games. But the year before they only won three, and one of the things was when I took the job there I wasn't allowed to make some changes. You know, I had to keep the players that were there. As a matter of fact, I was told we had two walk-ons that I had to put on scholarship. Well, I wish I would have never done that. You are at a Division II school and you think, "Gosh, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to be a Division I head coach" Since I had some success and I thought,, "Oh, I'll just go in and coach them up" but that's not the way it works. There's a lot more to being successful. It's more than what you know X and O wise; that's a very small part of it. And so when I was there we got the program better. It took awhile. We ended up, I know the one year, winning twenty games. And that's the only time in the history of that school that they've ever won twenty since they've been Division I. And the program was back on solid ground, I think, when I left. My last year there, Huggs really basically called me in December. I can remember, ‘cause they were playing Minnesota and we were up in New York playing. And I got a phone message from him up in the hotel where I was staying and it said "Listen, I want you to think about maybe coming on staff if you want to next year." He said, "We have a chance to be special. We have a chance to be very good." And so I kind of knew that there might be an opportunity after my last year up there. I think the biggest thing you realize is this: when you're the head coach, you're obviously calling all the shots. I don't care what assistant's say. In the final judgement you're the one that either okays it or you're the one that says no to an idea. The toughest thing is not so much that, but when you're an assistant coach, your time is not your own. You know, that's the toughest thing. And I would say this, that's one thing I give Bob credit for, at least the way he treats me; he doesn't try to monopolize my time; he expects me to do my job and he's very good about things that way. So I probably would have a difficult time working for someone else. I don't know if I could, to be honest with you. But because of my relationship with him, it's pretty easy.

CigarBoy: What are you in charge of here? What does Coach Huggins give you to do as a coach here?

Peters: Well, any type of office stuff. I'm in charge of all the office stuff, all the personnel here, because Bob is gone a lot. The demands on his time are unbelievable! I told him, "You need to learn to say no to people." He's too nice about it; he doesn't like to say no, so anytime if he can fit in a speaking engagement, he does it. Fundraising things, clinics, ... I mean so in the spring he's gone most of the time. In the summer he's gone. In the fall he's gone. So, anything in charge of the office, personnel, players (if he's not here) I have that. In addition to that I run the summer camps. All the individual workouts, the majority of the scouting, and just recently I've been able to do a little bit of the recruiting. Although he lets the other two assistants handle that. But I would like to get back to doing some recruiting but I've got a pretty full plate.

CigarBoy: Now have you been off the recruiting trail a little bit because you've got family and everything? Is that the kind of concession you have to make? He'll put the younger guys in the recruiting and keep you here?

Peters: No, I don't think that's it at all. I think initially when we talked about coming together, he goes, "Look I need somebody that can kind of run things, run the office, handle the players, you know - deal with situations when I'm not here, handle the coaching part of it." You know, there's a lot of times when you're only allowed two guys on your staff out there and Bob's always out there. I think again, you keep in mind the strength of this program really is Bob Huggins. I know I get in arguments with people about stuff, but most of the kids that we have in the program come here to play for him. And I think it is important that he's out there; that he is recruiting. And I think that what he's trying to do with our other two assistants, Andy Kennedy and Keith LeGree. He tries to free them of duties so they really can focus on recruiting, putting him in a position to be able to talk to good players, put him in a position to make the final sale. And I think Andy and Keith have done a good job and obviously Bob is as good a closer as anybody. There are a lot of kids out there that want to play for the guy .

CigarBoy: When you're selling this program to recruits, what are you selling?

Peters: Well, obviously, is Bob Huggins. I don't think there's anything that's going to sell the program better than Bob. There's no question about that. You can sell the city; the city's a nice city. The arena's nice. I like our style of play; I think kids like our style of play. Players that have come here that have made it to the NBA or to the next level - whether it is in Europe or South America, wherever - you always talk to them about becoming better here. There's no doubt about that. You will become a much better player than when you walked in here (after you leave), because we are going to demand that from you. And I think the other thing is again, go back to, we're not gonna try to play games with you. We're going to be honest about the way things are going to be. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be challenging. And I like what Terry Nelson's father said, "I sent you a boy and you gave me a man." And I like that idea - that we try to tell our players that we want to turn out men.

CigarBoy: What do you do during practice?

Peters: Basically, the one thing that's good about Huggs is this..........if you want to coach, he's going to let you coach now. It's not like you can't contribute, you can't be involved. You know, you go to a lot of places and the assistants stand there, they're quiet and they don't really do much. The head guy's doing all the coaching. And that's not the case here. Now, the way we kind of break up our practices is I have the guards, I have the perimeter people - the one, two, and three men. The post guys are down at the other end when we do individual stuff. Then when we do team drills, I mean you just jump in there, if it's the defense, you can coach the defense. He usually likes one or two of the other assistants working on the offense and vice versa. That's one thing good about him - he'll let you coach. He's never discouraged anybody. And that goes back 25 years. I can remember at Walsh College, we had a couple of other guys on our staff, and they were encouraged to coach, encouraged to get in there and work with the guys. That's something that's positive.

CigarBoy: Now let's get to the important things in life. What's your favorite cigar?

Peters: (Laughing) Arturo Fuente 8-5-8.

CigarBoy: Okay, and if you couldn't have that one, what would you say?

Peters: I like those bubble gum cigars. They really have a lasting taste. (Both chuckle.) They are very good.

CigarBoy: Your wife likes those, too, doesn't she?

Peters: Yes, she does.

CigarBoy: Next question. Give me your three favorite restaurants. If you're making a recommendation to the readers - we've got readers from California to London, England - where would you like to eat? If you could pick anywhere in the country to eat, where would you go?

Peters: I think, uh, the one restaurant here that I really enjoy, and obviously it has a big name around here, is Montgomery Inn. The reason that I like Montgomery Inn is they don't have anything on their menu that is bad. I always take people to Montgomery Inn.

CigarBoy: Which one, Boathouse or Montgomery?

Peters: Either one. I live a little bit closer to the original Montgomery Inn. And everytime that I've taken someone there, they've enjoyed it. The other thing is, I like the people there. You know, the people that run the place. I know Tom Gregory a little bit. He has quality people; they always make you feel welcome. I enjoy Montgomery Inn a lot. Well I don't know? I can tell you where my favorite ice cream is. It's Handel's Ice Cream up in Youngstown, Ohio.

CigarBoy: Okay, I love that too..

Peters: I love Handel's ice cream - chocolate pecan ice cream - it's very, very good. Very rich. I'm the kind of guy, I was brought up that you eat all the food on your plate, you know...... that type of thing. So, I like all types of foods. I don't know if there's one place I like better than all the others.

CigarBoy: Dan, last question. What out there, about the UC program, do you want people to know?

Peters: Well, I can honestly say this. We do not take shortcuts. And I honestly tell players when they come here, "You're going to get two things from us. You're going to get a scholarship and you're going to get grief. Because we are going to demand that you do things the right way." And our players go through an awful lot. I mean it's a very challenging program; we don't put up with a lot from the guys; we want them to become not only better players, but we want them to become better people. I think the one thing is, when we talk about becoming better players, we allow them, sometimes, the freedom to make decisions. Sometimes our players - like most young people - don't always make good decisions. But I do think they grow, they grow from it. You know, we're on them all the time about being a good person. Let's be a good person; let's do this the right way. We're on them all the time about how that degree's important. You need to finish that degree. We have a lot of players that maybe don't finish their degree in a four or five year period, but they've come back after that and received their degree. I think we have twenty guys that have received their degrees.

CigarBoy: I counted twenty-three pictures of graduates out there on the office wall.

Peters: Twenty-three. Well, see, people aren't aware of that. I have two sons of my own and I have learned...I try to give them advice, but I'm not going to sit there and preach and preach to them until I turn red in the face. Because I know that as soon as they walk out the door, they're going to make a decision. I mean, a lot of times it's not the decision that I want. And I also want them to know that with every decision there are consequences - good or bad. You're a young man. I have a son that's a junior and a son that's a freshman. And I want them to grow up and I want them to learn to think for themselves. I want them to learn to be conscious and to be respectful of other people. And I want them to give a great effort in everything they do. They're not always going to succeed and they're not always going to be successful in terms of maybe the picture they have in their mind. The thing is, you never give up, always keep trying, and you try to have fun with it. And I think if we can do those things with our players this year, I think we're doing okay regardless of what anybody else thinks. Because you know, in the end, you basically answer to yourself; you answer to your players; and I believe you answer to God. As long as you can answer to those three, uh, individuals - and you come up with a positive answer - I think you're doing pretty good.

CigarBoy: Okay that's a wrap.

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