Entering his third season at Georgia State, Danny Peters was elevated to associate head coach for the 2024-25 season. Peters, who previously worked as an assistant coach at Xavier, Arizona and Ball State, came to GSU in 2022-23 as an assistant coach on head coach Jonas Hayes' first staff.
As a college basketball player and coach, Peters has been part of four conference championships, two conference tournament championships, and 11 postseason appearances, including six NCAA Tournament berths. In that time, he has also helped coach and develop 21 NBA players, 13 NBA draft picks, and 14 all-conference selections.
Known as a relentless recruiter with a bright basketball mind and a tireless work ethic, Peters has a broad coaching background. His coaching mentors include 10 active Division I head coaches as well as his father, the late Dan Peters, a 30-plus year veteran in collegiate coaching.
Peters coached alongside Hayes under head coach Travis Steele at Xavier in 2021-22, helping the Musketeers to a 23-13 campaign. The season was highlighted by the 2022 NIT Championship and a showcase performance by the NIT Most Valuable Player and future NBA Draft Pick Colby Jones.
Before his season at Xavier, Peters spent a total of seven seasons on two separate stints at the University of Arizona under head coach Sean Miller. In his three seasons (2018-20) as an assistant coach in Tucson, Peters helped the Wildcats sign two Top 10 recruiting classes by 247Sports, including six future NBA draft picks; Josh Green, Zeke Nnaji, Nico Mannion, Benn Mathurin, Dalen Terry, and Christian Koloko.
In between his Arizona stints, Peters served four seasons as an assistant coach at Ball State under head coach James Whitford. During his time with the Cardinals, Peters aided in the nation’s fourth-largest turnaround in 2015-16 as Ball State earned the first of its two 20-win seasons and share of the MAC West Division championship twice. The program’s first postseason trip of Peters’ time in Muncie, the 2016 CIT, was Ball State's first postseason berth in 14 years. In 2016, Lindy’s magazine named the Cardinals recruiting class the top of the Mid-American Conference. The four Ball State recruiting classes that Peters assisted in assembling in Muncie included six different all-conference selections.
Peters originally worked at Arizona four years from 2010-14, starting as a graduate manager for two years and then assistant director of basketball operations for his final two years. During Peters’ first stint with the Wildcats, Arizona won a pair of Pac-12 Conference championships advancing to the NCAA Tournament three times including a Sweet 16 in 2013 and a pair of Elite Eight appearances in 2011 and 2014. During this four-year run at Arizona, Peters worked with 11 NBA players, which includes future lottery pick and NBA champion, Aaron Gordon, plus two Pac-12 Player of the Year and All-Americans, Derrick Williams and Nick Johnson.
Peters was a four-year letterwinner at The Ohio State University from 2006-10 under head coach Thad Matta. In his four seasons as a player, Peters was a part of 110 victories, the most of any Buckeye at the time. While in Columbus, Peters was a part of three NCAA tournament appearances, winning a school-record 35 games in 2006-07 season, a pair of outright Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles in 2007 and 2010, a NIT Championship in 2008, a Sweet 16 appearance in 2010, and an appearance in the 2007 NCAA National Championship game. Peters was teammates with seven future NBA Players including lottery picks Greg Oden, Mike Conley, and Evan Turner.
Danny’s father, the late Dan Peters, was a 30-plus year veteran on the collegiate coaching scene with a coaching tree that includes 10 currently active head coaches as well as recent Hall of Famer Bob Huggins. The elder Peters spent 14 seasons serving as the head coach at Walsh University (1983-88), St. Joseph’s College of Indiana (1991-93), and Youngstown State University (1993-99). He amassed a combined record of 237-140 and .628 winning percentage including a NCAA Division II tournament appearance in 1992 and Mid-Continent Conference coach of the year honors in 1998. As an assistant coach, the senior Peters made career stops at Western Carolina (1988-1989), Akron (1989-1991 and 2009-2014), Cincinnati (1999-2004), and Ohio State (2004-2009). During these 15 seasons, Peters was a part of eight regular season conference championships, five conference tournament championships, and 10 NCAA tournament appearances that includes a Sweet 16 in 2001, and a National Runner-Up in 2007. He coached two All-Americans and 13 future NBA players, including two number one overall selections in Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati) and Greg Oden (Ohio State).
A native of Ohio, Peters graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in special education in the spring of 2010.
