Carolyn Peck Presents Women's Hoops Coaching Staff
Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | Women's Basketball
New University of Florida women's basketball head coach Carolyn Peck announced her coaching staff this afternoon and familiar faces will be on the sideline with her for the 2002-03 season. Matthew Mitchell, Michael Peck and Charlene Thomas-Swinson complete the Gator coaching crew.
"I'm excited about this staff we have assembled. I think it's one of the best staffs in the nation," head coach Carolyn Peck said. "All four of us have extensive NCAA Tournament experience in that everyone has coached a team that has reached at least the Elite Eight, with three of us reaching the Final Four. We want to take Florida to that level and because we've experienced that level, we understand what it takes to get there and can share that with the players."
The first noticeable item that comes to mind with the new coaching staff is that the average height of the foursome is 6-foot-4. That figure is dwarfed only by the group's undeniable energy and enthusiasm.
Mitchell has been an assistant coach at Florida for the last two seasons and will remain a key member of the staff. He joined the Gator program on June 21, 2000 and has been involved with all areas in the team's development, including being a primary recruiter of Florida's incoming freshmen class that was ranked among the nation's best. Prior to his arrival in Gainesville, Mitchell was a graduate assistant coach with the University of Tennessee women's basketball program that reached the national championship game before losing to Connecticut. Prior to his work with the Lady Vols, Mitchell spent one year in Yazoo City, Miss., as a coach and teacher at Manchester Academy. He taught American history, while walking the sidelines as head coach of the boys and girls basketball teams. Mitchell's first experience as a head coach came in 1996, when he traveled to Lexington, Miss., to teach American history and coach at Central Holmes Academy. During his two-year tenure he patrolled the sidelines of the boys and girls basketball teams, as well as the football, track and golf teams. Mitchell entered the coaching ranks in 1995, as an assistant of the boys basketball team at Winston Academy, where he also graduated from high school in 1989. Mitchell attended Mississippi State University from 1993 to 1995, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing. He has one daughter, Lacy Mitchell, who will be a seventh-grader this fall at Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison, Miss. Mitchell, a native of Louisville, Miss., is the youngest of four sons born to John and Carol Mitchell.
Michael Peck, younger brother of head coach Carolyn Peck, returns to Gainesville for his second stint with the Gators. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Florida during the 1998 campaign before assuming a similar position at Penn State for the next three seasons, including the team's run to the 2000 Final Four. Michael, who was one of the primary recruiters for the Lady Lions, helped orchestrate one of the nation's top recruiting classes and bringing 2002 Kodak All-American Kelly Mazzante to Penn State. Following the 2001 season, Michael joined Carolyn's WNBA Orlando Miracle staff and served as an assistant coach last year. Florida was Michael's first collegiate position after coaching the Michigan Spartans, a 15-17 year old Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, while working as an account executive for the Fortune 200 firm Pitney Bowes, Inc. Peck also volunteered for the Detroit Pistons' Jerome Williams inner-city mentoring program. He has served as an individual instructor at the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University's and the University of Virginia's women's basketball camps. A 1996 graduate and four-year letter winner at Marshall University, Michael played his final year under current Gator men's basketball coach Billy Donovan. He still stands among the leaders on Marshall's all-time block list. Michael married the former Rachel Marzouca on July 31, 1999 and have one baby girl, Carly, who was born on May 11, 2001. The couple met in Gainesville while Michael was an assistant coach at UF and Rachel was a student at the university.
Thomas-Swinson has been an assistant coach under Carolyn Peck since the Orlando Miracle's inception in 1999. Prior to her three-year stay in Orlando, Thomas-Swinson was the head coach at St. John's University for three years, 1997-99. Among others she recruited to the Red Storm were Aiysha Smith, who opted for LSU once Thomas-Swinson departed, and Trish Patterson, who also changed her decision and now enters her senior year at UF. From 1993-96, Thomas-Swinson served as an assistant coach at her alma mater Auburn University. During her four years on the Tiger coaching staff, the squad reached the NCAA Tournament three times, including the 1996 run to the Elite Eight. Thomas-Swinson served as an assistant coach at Columbia Union College from 1989-91 before returning to Auburn, where she was a three-year starter for Joe Ciampi's Auburn squad and helped the Tigers capture their first-ever SEC regular season championship her senior year in 1987. Interestingly, Thomas-Swinson played all four years at Auburn where former Florida head coach Carol Ross was an assistant during her entire career. Thomas-Swinson later joined Ross as a member of her 1998 USA Women's Select Team staff. She earned her B.S. degree in Business Management from Auburn in 1992 and joined the coaching staff soon afterward. She is a native of Takoma Park, Maryland, and married Aaron Swinson following the 1997 season. The couple has one child, Charles, who was born on November 5, 2000.
Matthew Mitchell at a Glance
Date of Birth: December 16, 1970
Hometown: Louisville, Miss.
Education: Mississippi State Univ. (B.B.A. in Marketing, 1995)
Playing Background: basketball letterwinner and all-conference golfer at Millsaps College in 1991 and 1992
Height: 6-foot-5
Of Interest:
*Assistant coach and key recruiter at Florida since June 21, 2000
*Extremely talented athlete
*Graduate assistant coach at Tennessee during the 1999-2000 season, when the Lady Vols reached the national championship game
*Has one daughter, Lacy
Michael Peck at a Glance
Date of Birth: August 1, 1972
Hometown: Jefferson City, Tenn.
Education: Marshall (B.S. in Journalism, 1996)
Playing Background: basketball letterwinner at Marshall, 1993-96
Height: 6-foot-7
Of Interest:
*An assistant coach with Penn State during its 2000 Final Four season
*Brought a top 10-ranked recruiting class to Penn State
*Played college ball at Marshall under current Gator men's coach Billy Donovan
*Florida head coach Carolyn Peck is his older sister
*Served as an assistant coach at Florida during the 1998 season
*Met his future wife Rachel in Gainesville while he was assistant coach at UF
Charlene Thomas-Swinson
Date of Birth: December 11, 1965
Hometown: Takoma Park, Maryland
Education: Auburn (B.S. in Business Management, 1992)
Playing Background: four-year basketball letterwinner at Auburn, 1983-87
Height: 6-foot-1
Of Interest:
*An assistant coach for the last three years with the WNBA's Orlando Miracle, 1999-01
*Played college ball at Auburn from 1983-87, when former UF head coach Carol Ross was an assistant coach during her entire four-year career
*Head Coach at St. John's University for three years, 1997-99
*Four-year assistant coach at Auburn, where the Tigers reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 1996
*Her husband Aaron is a professional basketball player in Italy
END OF REPORT
