Joshua Paul Pastner (born September 26, 1977) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is currently the men's basketball head coach at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

. Pastner was a player on the 1997

Arizona Wildcats men's basketball The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team is the college basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. They compete in the Big 12 Conference, Big 12 of NCAA Division I and are coac ...

national championship team, and an assistant coach at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

under

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

and at the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

under

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

. He was named the 2013 ''Sporting News''

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

Coach of the Year, and the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.

Early and personal life

Pastner was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, in the state's northern panhandle, the son of Marla and Hal Pastner. The family moved to Texas where his father is a high school/ AAU coach and basketball promoter in the

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

area. His younger sister, Courtney, played guard in basketball for Kingwood High School, leading the All-Greater Houston Area in scoring her senior season with 23.2 points per game, and was named the 1999 All-Greater Houston Player of the Year, and the 1999 Gatorade "Circle of Champions" Texas High School Player of the Year, the 1999 Texas Girls Coaches Association Player of the Year (TGCA). He grew up in the Kingwood

master-planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Pastner knew he wanted to be a coach since he was in the 5th grade. By the age of 13 he was publishing the ''Josh Pastner Scouting Report'' of local high school talent in the Houston area. At the age of 16, the ''Houston Hoops'' AAU summer squad was turned over to Pastner by his father, his first job as a head coach."Josh Pastner,"
University of Memphis Athletics - Staff Directory. While an AAU coach, Pastner coached future NBA players such as Emeka Okafor, T. J. Ford and Daniel Gibson. He married Kerri (née Lamas) in 2009, and has a stepson, Ethan, three daughters, Payten, Kamryn, Harper, and one son, Cason and one sister, Courtney, and one brother, Austin.">"Georgia Tech Names Josh Pastner Head Basketball Coach,"
JacketsOnline.com.

College

Pastner attended the

, and was a walk-on freshman on its 1997 NCAA championship basketball team. Pastner finished his degree in only two and a half years, taking as many as 33 units per semester. He earned his bachelor's degree in Family Studies from Arizona in December 1998. He finished his master's degree in Teaching and Teacher Education in December 1999, and then began work on his doctorate and started his coaching career in 2000 as a graduate-assistant under

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. He was named Academic All-Pac-10 second team as a senior in 2000. He played for the Wildcats for four years under Olson.

Coaching career

Pastner served as an assistant coach under Lute Olson and Kevin O'Neill at the University of Arizona from 2002 to 2008. Prior to Olson's retirement, Pastner left the University of Arizona to serve as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the

during the 2008–09 season for John Calipari. Pastner earned a reputation as a tireless recruiter during his years as an assistant coach.

Memphis

On April 6, 2009, at 31 years of age, Pastner was selected to be head coach of the University of Memphis Tigers basketball team, succeeding

. Pastner's first contract with Memphis was for $4.4 million over five years. Pastner's recruits from the 2010 high school class were ranked as one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. Pastner was named ''Sporting News''

(C-USA) Coach of the Year for the 2009–10 season. After a 2010–11 season that included a Conference USA tournament championship and appearance in the 2011 NCAA tournament, Pastner signed a 5-year, $1.7 million (annually) contract extension with the Tigers. After starting his career 0–13 against ranked teams, Pastner coached the Tigers to a 73–68 victory over #5

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

on December 1, 2013. On March 21, 2013, the Tigers defeated Saint Mary's 54–52, giving Pastner his first NCAA tournament victory as a head coach. On the heels of his first NCAA victory and the signing of a top-five recruiting class for 2013, Pastner's contract was extended through 2019–20 and his pay raised to $2.65 million per year. He sometimes neglected his family to devote more time to recruiting. He said: "I was like I love my wife and children, but for the short-term that kid could help me beat Louisville. And my wife and daughter couldn’t. She understood. And so, we got that recruit." The 2013–14 Tigers entered the season ranked #13 in the country, though the team ultimately earned an 8-seed in the NCAA tournament and lost by 18 points in the Round of 32 to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The 2014–15 Tigers did not make the NCAA or NIT tournament, the first time in 15 years that the Tigers had missed the postseason. In his first seven seasons coaching, Pastner's teams won 70 percent of their games, going 167-73 and averaging 24 wins a season. He was tied for the 10th-most wins for a head coach in his first seven seasons in NCAA Division I basketball history, and had the second-most victories of any active coach under the age of 40 in Division I.

Georgia Tech

On April 8, 2016, Pastner was hired to be the new head coach at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. He became the 14th head basketball coach in the school's history. During the 2016–17 regular season, Pastner's Jackets knocked off Top 5 North Carolina at home, in his first coached ACC game at Georgia Tech. North Carolina would end up being the eventual National Champion. The Jackets also enjoyed quality wins at Virginia Commonwealth, at home against top-10 Florida State, and top-25 Notre Dame. Further improving throughout the season, Tech knocked off Syracuse and Pittsburgh late in February to finish 8–10 in the ACC. Tech was projected to finish last in the conference and to not win a single conference game in Pastner's first season. Because of the team's remarkable accomplishments, Pastner was named 2017 ACC Coach of the Year. He was also honored by Positive Athlete Georgia as Georgia's "Most Positive Collegiate Coach". Georgia Tech was selected to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

as a #6 seed in the Syracuse bracket. They upset the Indiana Hoosiers at home 75–63 in the First Round. In Second Round, Georgia Tech defeated Belmont. A victory over Ole Miss put Georgia Tech in the NIT Final Four, where they defeated the #8 seed CSU Bakersfield. Georgia Tech played Texas Christian University (TCU) in the NIT Championship Game, but lost 88–56. Tech and Pastner turned the corner in the 2019–20 season, going 17–14 and finishing 11–9 in conference play. It was Tech's first winning season in ACC play since 2004 and highest finish in the ACC since the 2005 season. Some of the highlights of that season was a win over fifth ranked Louisville at home as well as winning their last six of seven to close out the season. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Tech did not participate in the postseason. Tech continued its momentum into the 2020–21 season. Going 17–9, they beat four ranked teams in the regular season and it was the first back to back winning ACC seasons in Tech history since 1990. Pastner and his 2021 squad won the ACC Tournament, first time since 1993, as they beat #15 Florida State in the Championship game. That win secured Tech's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2010. It was also GT's first ACC crown since 1993. The Jackets lost to Loyola Chicago in the first round. Moses Wright was ACC Player of The Year, while Jose Alvarado was ACC Defensive Player of The Year. The success would not last though as Tech parted ways with Pastner on March 10, 2023 following two disappointing seasons. He finished 109–114 in his seven years coaching the Jackets and was the fifth winningest coach in school history behind only Hewitt, Hyder, Roy Mundorff and Cremins.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Biography on Georgia Tech Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastner, Josh 1977 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Arizona Wildcats men's basketball coaches Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Houston Basketball players from West Virginia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Memphis Tigers men's basketball coaches People from Glen Dale, West Virginia People from Kingwood, Texas American men's basketball players 21st-century American Jews Jews from West Virginia Jewish American basketball players Jewish American basketball coaches Sportspeople from Marshall County, West Virginia