The Ultimate 50

2. Carolyn Peck

2024 Update

Carolyn's basketball work expanded a bit in 2024, when she became courtside analyst for Las Vegas Aces telecasts. This pre-game photo from May provides a good look at the natural curls that have become more common for her. But they can get close to trouble. How close?

THIS close! Peck posted this from an NCAA game in March in Iowa. Curl actually goes around Peck's left eye; else our Super-Hair is defeated! We're left to guess what happened to the hair before or after this photo - but from what we've seen, she's still undefeated after all these years.

While she still uses X/Twitter a lot, there are other ways to track Peck that we haven't mentioned here. Peck posts more candid photos of her life on her Facebook feed. A smaller gallery can be seen on Instagram - yeah, with a "yeah."

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2022 Update

Among our remaining unbeaten Ultimates, no one is on public display more than Carolyn. Between college basketball in winter and the WNBA in summer, she's on TV a lot. This moment from February with Mississippi high school coach Pashen Thompson ahows Carolyn's mid-length hair still can survive a hug - close to the eyes, but staying out with soft curls.

But in late 2022, Carolyn has made a surprising change. This late-October shows her FULLY-curled, with teasing at the crown to prevent a collapse. (We think this could be her natural look.) If she's spraying the hair, it's not evident.

In fact, this vidcap from the WNBA Playoffs in September shows a few strands of the curl dangling near her left eye. An October clip shows she can move her head around a bit, yet the curl somehow holds. This strikes us as a weak look for Peck, but there's still no sign of the hair dropping to defeat. Her amazing hold truly is "Ultimate."

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2020 Update

Carolyn remains the top women's basketball analyst at ESPN. And at times, her hair remains top-of-the-line. This picture was atop her Twitter feed in mid-November - with bangs sweeping across her forehead, but stopping precisely at the eyebrow.

But she doesn't always have a hint of bangs. This in-car photo from a family road trip shows mid-length hair within an inch of her left eye. But we still haven't found a photo of it any closer - certainly not in an eye.

Carolyn seems to pin her hair back more now for protection. A strong wind on the wrong day could bring this Ultimate down at last. But she keeps making sure that doesn't happen. That's what a Super-Hair champion like Peck does. To admire her hair at length (more than 20 minutes), watch this 2018 interview.

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2018 Update

Carolyn decided to become much more visible in October - leaving the Vanderbilt women's basketball team to return to ESPN. She left with an official photo which was quite conservative - hair pinned back and thrown back, quite different from the picture of head coach Stephanie White.

The best place to find "Peck pix" is still her Twitter account. A family photo from the summer of 2017 has a far better view of her famous style. In fact, the right side could be as close to collapse as ever - with a strip of hair stopping at the brink of her righr eye! Are bangs near the left eye a key to her success?

They still are. This somewhat-mussy photo of Peck listening to something has traces of bangs on the forehead. But wind really would have to blow, to bring longer hair on the sides into trouble.

A video from the Nashville Tennessean shows how Carolyn has adjusted her look over the years. Some of the styles are scintillating to analyze. Despite the scoffers who visit our site, she's still undefeated "Super-Peck" to us.

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2016 Update

After years with a microphone at ESPN, Carolyn returned to coaching in June 2016. She's now "Associate Coach" at her alma mater, Vanderbilt. She's tweeting a lot more, mostly about Commodore sports - but when we see her, we still frequently see well-secure hair. Carolyn seems to comb it back more and use a lot of pins, but the styles stay in line.

So what happens when Peck gets a surprise? Head coach Stephanie White tweeted a motel fire alarm moment in late November, when Vanderbilt was playing at Tennessee-Martin. A strip of hair is across the forehead, looking long enough to drop in her eyes! But it stayed there - perhaps helped by glasses doubling as a headband.

This photo from a somewhat-blurry 2013 speech shows a moment after she stooped down for reading glasses. The hair agains appears well teased on top, so there's room for the hair to stay away from her eyes despite a bend-down.

One of the best "Peck picture packs" we've found is at a site called Daze News. It gives a long-term view of how this Ultimate head of hair has been adjusted, yet without dropping to defeat.

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2012 Update

Carolyn may be the hardest-working Ultimate 50 member we're still reviewing. She's on ESPN a lot, thanks to college basketball in winter and WNBA games in summer. And during a studio analysis in September, she showed signs of growing out her classic style - with hair stretching a few inches beyond the shoulders. Since Carolyn's seldom on camera outside of studios or arenas, there's seemingly little to put longer locks at risk.

And thanks to the Women's Sports Foundation, we have a rare view of Peck's Super-Hair at its messiest. It was taken while she coached the now-defunct Orlando Miracle, and we'd love to know what led up to it. While a few long strands are out of line, there's turning back from her right eye, and "warning bangs" are confirmed on her forehead.

To see if this still-unbeaten hair faces future risks, your best source might be ESPN's video section - or catch her running through an airport; she often reports on Twitter of delays.

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2010 Update

Carolyn seems to have settled into a sportscasting life, analyzing women's basketball for ESPN (and even writing a travel article for The New York Times). This in-studio vid-cap from February shows what's become her classic look - shoulder-length, with a hint of bangs. But they appear a bit long on the left side. What would happen if Carolyn is courtside, with headphones on?

Here's the answer, from the WNBA Finals in September. She actually shifted the part to the other side, with bangs brushed across the forehead to lift away from her eyes.

And here's a rare view of "Super-Peck's" Super-Hair in full motion! This shot was taken as she jogged onto the Purdue University court in 2009, to mark ten years since the national championship season. The Purdue website has several pictures of Peck, with her style unbeaten and strong in several ways.

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2008 Update

A series of difficulties forced Carolyn to leave the Florida coaching job in 2007. She keeps busy these days with ESPN analysis and WNBA blogging. This picture from ESPN's web site indicates little change in her style from her final season at Florida.

This is how Carolyn's Super-Hair looked at a college sports awards program in October. The bangs seem to be grown out, and the hair is wavier than we've ever noticed with her. Yet it held on the dais with no difficulty at all -- as her styles always seem to do. Find a complete collection of large detailed pictures at a national association's web site, and admire hair that still refuses to fall to defeat.

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2006 Update

The complaints from Hair Fans slowly kept building against Carolyn (who are these people, Tennessee Lady Vols supporters?) - so she reluctantly was dropped from the Top Ten Tresses list during 2006. But she was the last of the "original ten" to drop out. And with her style still unbeaten in our view, she still could come back. Here's an example of her hair in close quarters, during a timeout of a Florida game. It's shoulder-length, side-brushed on top....

....and a side view indicates the left side is trimmed to be bangs, which would only fall across the forehead if pressed. But Peck's hair never seems pressed by anything. It's perfectly-cut, well-placed and controlled hair. We're still impressed, even if we're in the minority opinion. If you agree, check pictures at her own section of the Gator Zone web site.

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2004 Update

Early in 2004, Super-Hair was granted a courtside media pass to watch Carolyn closely at a Florida basketball game. It not only allowed us this close-up shot of her in the post-game media room. From watching for an entire game, we can tell you this Super-Hair truly is long-lasting. Only one or two manuevers near the bench made her on her left side come very close to danger -- and she was showing bangs to deflect trouble, anyway.

We also were able to obtain the Florida women's basketball media guide, which is much easier to handle than the .PDF version online. It provides views from all angles of Peck's Ultimate style. Here's a look at her critical left side, which has natural curl and longer bangs brushed back for safety.

The left side's a bit messier here, during a game, but still the strands are bending back off the face -- especially ones long enough to extend below eye-length.

And this ESPN interview picture shows a bit of hair even farther forward -- but around the crown, hair still is angled back.

"What is Super-Hair's fascination with Carolyn Peck?" a writer asked us during 2004. Simply the fact that this style remains attractive, yet strong at all times. Even when the game gets tight, this hair does not weaken. It is, simply put, an Ultimate head of hair. You can try following it at the Florida sports web site "GatorZone." We also found a few pictures at the strangely-named Yahoo group "Carolyn Peck School of Ebonization" -- but we don't vouch for anything else you might find there.

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2002 Update

While Carolyn showed great style as head coach of the WNBA Orlando Miracle (enough to make a top ten list in Playboy), her teams were not always winners. Now she's back in college, coaching the University of Florida.

The news conference in Gainesville introducing her may have marked the closest call her hair has had; the style looked limp, weak and ready to go. But we're convinced that was a rare bad hair day for her -- because it's held since then with its usual impressive strength. That's why Pack has lasted solidly for three years on our Top Ten list.

So how does she do it? This photo from a 2002 Orlando game offers a clue, as Peck bends over an injured player. The hair near her left eye doesn't budge - due, we suspect, to a mix of body curl, blow-drying and strong spray. As we've mentioned elsewhere on the web site, more "lines of defense" mean stronger, more enduring hold.

A Yahoo! group formed recently for Peck fans -- but when we checked it, the membership and pictures were sparse. If this doesn't change, we may post our own collection. Until then, we suggest trying the Orlando newspaper that's covered this classy coach at both the pro and college levels. A good second choice seems to be an Atlanta sports radio station.

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