HOUSTON-Buzz Peterson was part of what many consider the golden decade of the NCAA Tournament.
Beginning with the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson final of 1979 between Indiana State and Michigan State, continuing through a freshman Michael Jordan’s game-winner for North Carolina against Georgetown in 1982 (Peterson was Jordan’s roommate), the epic Georgetown-Villanova final of 1985, and ending with Danny Manning and the Miracles’ victory for Kansas over Oklahoma in 1988, the tournament became a must-see event, its popularity driven by magical players on their way to the Hall of Fame.
“Oh, everybody had players you wanted to see back then,” said Peterson on Saturday morning. “Magic, Bird, Michael, Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas. All those guys became household names in the NCAA Tournament.”
Yet even then Peterson found himself thinking of his coach first come the 1982 national championship game in New Orleans.
“We just wanted to win it for Coach [Dean] Smith,” he said. “That’s all we were thinking about. We just wanted to give Coach his first national championship.”