View source for Dan Peterson

{{Short description|American basketball coach}}
{{For|individuals similarly named|Daniel Peterson (disambiguation){{!}}Daniel Peterson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox NBA biography
| name           = Dan Peterson
| image          = Danpeterson.jpg
| image_size     =
| caption        = Peterson, in 2008
| width          = 
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1936|1|9}}
| birth_place    = [[Evanston, Illinois]], U.S.
| high_school    = [[Evanston Township High School|Evanston Township]]<br>(Evanston, Illinois)
| college        = [[Northwestern University|Northwestern]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/fall2009/feature/peterson.html|title = Grande Coach: Northwestern Magazine - Northwestern University}}</ref>
| coach_start    = 1962
| coach_end      = 1987, 2011
| cyears1=1962–1963 | cteam1=[[McKendree Bearcats men's basketball|McKendree]] (assistant)
| cyears2=1963–1965 | cteam2=[[Michigan State Spartans men's basketball|Michigan State]] (assistant)
| cyears3=1965–1966 | cteam3=[[Navy Midshipmen men's basketball|Navy]] (assistant)
| cyears4=1966–1971 | cteam4=[[Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball|Delaware]]
| cyears5=1971–1973 | cteam5=[[Chile national basketball team|Chilean National Team]]
| cyears6=1973–1979 | cteam6=[[Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna|Virtus Bologna]]
| cyears7=1979–1987 | cteam7=[[Olimpia Milano]]
| cyears8=2011 | cteam8=Olimpia Milano
| highlights     =
*[[EuroLeague]] champion (1987)
*European Coach of the Year (1987)
*[[50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors]] (2008)
*[[FIBA Korać Cup]] champion (1985)
*5× [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] champion (1976, 1982, 1985–1987)
*3× [[Italian Basketball Cup|Italian Cup]] winner (1974, 1986, 1987)
*2× Italian Coach of the Year (1986, 1987)
*[[Italian Basketball Hall of Fame]] (2012)
*Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame (1995)
}}

'''Daniel Lowell Peterson''' (born January 9, 1936) is an American former [[professional sports|professional]] [[basketball]] [[head coach]]. He resigned from his most recent position as the head coach of [[Olimpia Milano]] in the Italian [[Lega Basket Serie A|LBA]] after the team was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2011 Italian league playoffs.  The team then announced that he would assume another role with the club.  He is nicknamed "The Coach" for his legacy in Italian basketball. Peterson was enshrined in the [[FIBA Hall of Fame]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 Hall of Fame Class: Dan Peterson |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/news/2024-hall-of-fame-class-dan-peterson |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=FIBA.basketball |language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==
Peterson went to [[Evanston Township High School]] in [[Evanston, Illinois]]. He received his undergraduate degree from [[Northwestern University]] in Evanston and a master's degree from the [[University of Michigan]].
 
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.<ref>[http://www.bluehens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=876210&SPID=110416&DB_OEM_ID=29100&ATCLID=209485286 Delaware Men's Basketball Coaching Records]</ref>
 
In 1971, he went abroad, acting as head coach of the [[Chile national basketball team]] until 1973. Peterson took his Chilean team on a grueling tour of the United States in 1972.<ref>[https://www.si.com/vault/1972/11/20/617962/scorecard Sports Illustrated article]</ref>  From 1973&ndash;1978, he coached [[Virtus Bologna]] in the Italian [[Lega Basket Serie A|LBA]], winning the 1974 [[Italian Basketball Cup]] and, in 1976, the [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] title. In 1978, he was hired as head coach of [[Olimpia Milano]], where he won four Italian League titles (1982, 1985, 1986, 1987), two more Italian Cups (1986, 1987), a [[Korać Cup]] (1985), and one [[EuroLeague|European Champions Cup]] (EuroLeague) title, which is the highest title in Europe for pro [[sports club|club]] basketball.

In 1987, he retired after coaching in Italy for 24 years, but he resumed coaching on January 3, 2011, with [[Olimpia Milano]]. He still holds records for a coach in the Italian League 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.

On January 3, 2011, he became the new head coach of [[Olimpia Milano]], after the dismissal of [[Piero Bucchi]]. He left in June, succeeded by [[Sergio Scariolo]].

==Commentator==
After his retirement, he became a popular [[sports commentator]] (basket and [[pro wrestling]]) for major Italian television channels.

==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]].<ref>[http://www.eths.k12.il.us/Page/514 ETHS Distinguished Alumni]</ref>

In 2008, he was named one of the [[50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors|50 most influential European club basketball personalities]] over the previous half-century.<ref>[http://www.euroleague.net/final-four/milan-2014/news/i/135326/final-four-interview-dan-peterson-former-milan-coaching-legend Euroleague Basketball article]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of EuroLeague-winning head coaches]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://web.legabasket.it/coach/coach.phtml?id=PET-DAN Italian League coach profile] {{in lang|it}}
*{{commonscatinline}}

{{Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Olimpia Milano 1984–85 FIBA Korać Cup Champions}}
{{Olimpia Milano 1986-87 Euroleague champions}}
{{Euroleague50}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Dan}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American emigrants to Italy]]
[[Category:American expatriate basketball people in Chile]]
[[Category:American expatriate basketball people in Italy]]
[[Category:American men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Illinois]]
[[Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:EuroLeague–winning coaches]]
[[Category:Evanston Township High School alumni]]
[[Category:McKendree Bearcats men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Michigan State Spartans men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Navy Midshipmen men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Northwestern University alumni]]
[[Category:Olimpia Milano coaches]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois]]
[[Category:University of Michigan alumni]]
[[Category:Virtus Bologna coaches]]