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©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 30, 2001
NEW YORK -- If Buzz Peterson's tenure at Tulsa only lasts one season, he made sure it would be a successful one.
Marcus Hill scored 24 points as the Golden Hurricane won the NIT championship for its first-year coach, beating Alabama 79-60 Thursday night.
Tulsa's only other NIT title came 20 years ago, when the Golden Hurricane beat Syracuse 86-84 in overtime in Nolan Richardson's first year as coach.
"It's been a joy to watch," Peterson said. "It's eerie in a way that it came 20 years after Nolan Richardson did it."
Peterson, who tied Richardson's school record for wins in his first year at 26-11, also might follow a tradition started by the Arkansas coach, turning success at Tulsa into a big-time college coaching job. Richardson, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson and Bill Self have all left the cradle of coaches in the past 16 years, with Richardson and Smith winning national titles after their stints at Tulsa.
Peterson, who spent the previous four seasons as coach at Appalachian State, is at the top of Tennessee's wish list and could interview for the Volunteers' opening as early as this weekend.
"Nobody has contacted me yet," Peterson said. "But if something comes up, I'll never shut the door on anything."
If Peterson does leave Tulsa, the new coach will inherit a talented team with seven of its top nine players returning.
Hill, one of the few seniors on the team, ended his career with a school-record 100 wins, a trip to an NCAA region final and the MVP of the NIT.
Alabama finished 25-11.
MEMPHIS 86, DETROIT 71: Kelly Wise had 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting as Memphis ended its first season under John Calipari in the third-place game.
Shannon Forman added 17 points and Marcus Moody scored 13 of his 15 in the second half for the Tigers (21-15), who broke open a close game by clamping down on defense in the second half.
Moody hit a pair of three-pointers and Wise scored twice underneath during a 14-2 run that gave Memphis a 69-53 lead.
Detroit (25-12) went 7:21 during a stretch in the second half without a field goal and shot only 34.4 percent for the game.
Rashad Phillips scored 27 points to set the single-season scoring mark at Detroit. Phillips' 785 points broke Spencer Haywood's record of 771 in 1969. Phillips also finished his college career as the Titans' leading scorer at 2,319 points.
Willie Green added 18 points and nine rebounds, but Detroit got little offense after that.
Calipari, who coached Massachusetts to the Final Four in 1996 before spending two-plus seasons with the New Jersey Nets in the NBA, has helped turn Memphis around.
The team's 21 wins are its most since going 22-8 in 1995-96. Calipari also got one of the top recruiting classes in the nation during the early signing period.