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Georgia Tech hires Memphis coach Josh Pastner

By Josh Barnhill

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Former Memphis head basketball coach Josh Pastner will be named to the same position at Georgia Tech.

Memphis fans were growing weary of Josh Pastner and Georgia Tech needed a basketball coach so the two came together on Friday according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Pastner has been the head coach at Memphis since John Calipari left following the 2009 season. In seven years at Memphis, he guided the Tigers to four NCAA bids and five 20-plus win seasons.

While he was having success at Memphis, the fan base was coming off the Calipari era which included four straight Sweet 16 appearances, including three Elite 8’s and a runner-up finish in 2008. With Pastner unable to make the NCAA Tournament in 2015 or 2016 and scheduled to make another $2.65 million in 2017, frustrations were beginning to mount.

Georgia Tech fired Brian Gregory after taking the Yellow Jackets to the NIT quarterfinals. That was his best season in five years at the helm, and only his second winning record. In all, Gregory was 76-86 at Tech….a far cry from his 172-94 mark while at Dayton.

Josh Pastner is still a young coach despite his head coaching experience. He played on Arizona’s 1997 national championship team as a freshman. After graduating, he spent six years as an assistant to Lute Olsen at Arizona – then moved on to Memphis for Calipari’s final year before succeeding him. Pastner is just 37 years old.

Georgia Tech is searching for ways to get back to the days of Bobby Cremins. From 1984-1993, Cremins had the Yellow Jackets in the NCAA Tournament every year, making the Final Four in 1990. Since then, they’ve only made six appearances in the big dance in 23 years.

Tech did experience a brief rebirth under Paul Hewitt in 2004 and 2005. They made it all the way to the national championship game but lost to UConn in ’04, then lost in the second round in ’05.

Pastner has been to 15 NCAA Tournament as a player and coach in his 18 years of college basketball.

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