Buzz Peterson found himself cheering for Tennessee last Saturday night against Memphis. Some UT fans might find that surprising, considering that Peterson was fired three years ago as men’s basketball coach and replaced by Bruce Pearl.

“I’m excited for the players,” Peterson said. “You have to realize all the time that I spent with those young men and all the great moments we shared together. I don’t have any regrets. But, I still wish we had had one more year to get it turned around.”

Peterson said that from day one at Tennessee, the goal was to get a kid from Pulaski named Tyler Smith.

“We went after Tyler from the first day I took the job.,” said Peterson. “There were a number of people who said that the Smith kid was the key to our rebuilding effort. We signed him with the intent that he would be the center piece for years to come. He could shoot, handle the ball, rebound, run the floor … you name it … he could do it.”

Unfortunately for Peterson, he never got a chance to coach Smith because he was let go after a 14-17 season. He said that the program was ready to take off if had that one more year he wanted. But, athletic director Mike Hamilton felt that the program needed new leadership and Peterson was paid a $1.4 million buyout to leave.

“When we watched the Memphis game at home, some of my family had a hard time watching Tennessee have that kind of success because they still think that I could have gotten them there,” Peterson said. “You know, I’ve moved past that. Coaches get fired every day. Look at John Brady at LSU, he was in the Final Four just a couple of years ago and now he can’t coach? Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. But, God has a plan and sometimes we just have to follow it.

“You have to give Bruce Pearl and his staff a lot of credit for what they’ve been able to do. He has those guys playing with a lot of energy at a very high level. If I’ve learned one thing this year, as the director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats, it’s the importance of the player/coach relationship. (UT women’s coach) Pat Summitt used to tell me all the time that the most important time a coach can spend is with his/her players off the court. Man, I’ve learned that more this year than ever by talking to the players on our team about what motivates them and makes them want to play hard.

“When you watch Tennessee play, you can tell that those players love to play for Bruce. To reach No. 1 in the country, you have to have a lot of things go right. There are a lot of things that have to fit into place to reach that level. Bruce has obviously been able to put all of those pieces into place and Tennessee fans should be very proud of the job that he’s done.”

As I talked to Peterson, I could here pride in the fact that he and his staff had a big hand in putting this team together.

“To see the way those three senior guards are playing, that we recruited, makes me feel very good. We had to fight hard to get Chris Lofton away from Arkansas State and Valpo,” Peterson said with a laugh. “I remember seeing Lofton match up with Rajon Rondo at an ABC summer camp. Rondo ate his lunch. It wasn’t because he was better, it was because they had Lofton matching up with him as a point guard. I think we all know now that Lofton was not, and is not, a point guard.

“When I was recruiting Chris, he wouldn’t look me in the eye. He was a shy kid from a great family who just was real quiet and introverted. I asked his parents one Wednesday if I could come by the house and talk to Chris. They told me that I had 5 minutes because it was church night. Well, after we signed him and got him to campus we put him up 1-on-1 against the other guys on the team, guys like Scooter McFadgon and C.J. Watson. Lofton was eating their lunch. It didn’t take us long to figure out what we had.

“JaJuan Smith has always had a competitive fire that won’t let him lose. We knew that if we could teach him the game that the sky was the limit for that kid. Jordan Howell, ironically, was the most highly recruited of those those kids. He’s such a great young man and I’m so proud of what he’s been able to accomplish.

“Does it hurt? Yeah, I’m not going to lie and say that it doesn’t hurt a little bit inside to wonder what if. Any competitor is going to ask himself, what if, after he’s been fired like I was. Look, I don’t know that we would have made it to the point where the program is right now. It would be unfair of me, and real honestly, unrealistic to say that we would have. But, I always felt like we were going to get Jamont Gordon, who is now a star at Mississippi State, and I thought we might get the Delk twins. We were going to be really good, but to reach the level where Bruce Pearl and his staff have taken the program? I just don’t know the answer to that.”

What does hurt Peterson is that he hasn’t talked with the players since he left.

“No, I haven’t,” he said. “And, I hate that. But, I just don’t think that I should out of respect for Bruce and his staff. You know, they are his players now. They don’t need to be talking to their old coach. It would rub me the wrong way if my players were talking to the last coach. I’ll get to catch up with them and tell them how proud I am of them when they’re done. I’m sure those guys will be calling me and asking advice about the NBA here in a few months.”

As for whether he wants to coach again?

“Yeah, I’d like to at some point,” said Peterson. “I am enjoying the opportunity to get home most days at 4 o’clock and be with Jan and the kids. At about 7, I’m watching games and scouting. Yes, I watch Tennessee a lot. It’s kind of hard to miss the Vols with how much they’re on TV now. I knew Tennessee would reach this point, I knew it. Yes, I’m disappointed that I’m not the one coaching them. But, man they are fun to watch. A friend called me and said that after the Memphis game Chris Lofton, Jordan Howell, Tyler Smith and a couple of others asked, ‘How’s Buzz doing?’ That meant a lot to me, it really did. I am so proud of those young men, as proud as a father would be of his own son.”

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room, presented by Parkwest Medical Center, on Sunday at 10 p.m. on MyVLT2.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.