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Josh Pastner, former GT and Memphis coach, reportedly lands new coaching job
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Josh Pastner has been out of coaching for the past 2 seasons, serving as an analyst in that span. However, the former head coach at Georgia Tech and Memphis is reportedly getting a new gig.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel, Pastner is expected to be hired by UNLV. The deal is expected to be for 5 years as he takes over for a Runnin’ Rebels program that has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013.
Pastner was a player for Arizona in the late 90s and began his coaching career as an assistant on Lute Olson’s staff. He later joined John Calipari’s staff at Memphis in 2008-09 and succeeded the legendary Calipari after his departure to take the head coaching job at Kentucky.
At one time, Pastner was the hot head coach on the rise in college hoops. Across his first 4 seasons at Memphis, Pastner led the Tigers to 3 C-USA Tournament titles, including regular-season and tournament titles in 2012-13. After the program moved to the AAC, Pastner produced just 1 NCAA Tournament appearance in 3 underwhelming seasons.
In spite of the downward trajectory, Georgia Tech hired Pastner to replace the underwhelming Brian Gregory. Unfortunately, the results never followed in Atlanta.
Across 7 seasons, the Yellow Jackets had just 1 total NCAA Tournament appearance as a 9-seed in 2021, and that only came about after a miraculous run through the ACC Tournament. Pastner finished 109-114 with Georgia Tech as the program finished 10th or worse in the ACC 5 of his 7 seasons.
We’ll see if Pastner can revive his once-promising career at a new destination out west.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
