North Carolina coach Roy Williams minced no words about the prospects for Georgia Tech and coach Josh Pastner, but was confident in his ultimate success.
“When people change jobs, there’s a reason, and the reason usually is because somebody else was not successful,” Williams said Wednesday at the ACC’s media day. “So it’s going to be a tough road for Josh. But he’s a marathon guy, not a sprinter. He’s going to be able to stay with it, stay with it, and see what happens. But it’s a tough league.”
Not much is expected of the Yellow Jackets, who lost 67 percent of their minutes played and 78 percent of their scoring. ESPN recently ranked Tech as the least experienced team in the country. Moreover, the ACC looks fearsome. Louisville coach Rick Pitino touted that 10 or 11 teams could make the NCAA tournament.
Williams, whose relationship with Pastner dates back several years, was optimistic for Tech and Pastner in the long term.
“He’s been with some great people,” Williams said. “He was with Lute Olson for a long time. Josh is going to be very successful, but the first couple of years are going to be hard.”
