In his search for a replacement for former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said he will not limit his field to coaches with recruiting connections in Atlanta and the state of Georgia.
“Does it have to be an Atlanta guy?” Pastner asked. “No, it doesn’t have to be an Atlanta guy. We need a guy who’s good, who can coach and be good with the players and skill development and recruit and represent Georgia Tech.”
Pastner said that interim assistant coach Julian Swartz, who has filled in for LaBarrie since he was put on paid leave in November, will be considered. He said he’ll work closely with athletic director Todd Stansbury and associate athletic director Marvin Lewis (who supervises the team).
Pastner’s aforementioned job description is something of an acknowledgement that LaBarrie’s worth to the staff went far beyond his relationships with AAU and high-school coaches in metro Atlanta and the state. LaBarrie, who resigned in February as an investigation into an allegation of an NCAA rules violation became prolonged, designed Tech’s defense, developed guards and spotted prospects before others.
And while LaBarrie did have local connections, Pastner believes that he and his staff have been able to develop their own inroads into the state’s recruiting circles in almost two years at Tech. Further, Pastner said “that I don’t know at Georgia Tech, you can just live strictly on Atlanta kids or Georgia kids. We’ve got to be able to recruit nationally based on our academic requirements here.”
And, beyond that, the ability to spot undervalued talent might be as critical as the connections aspect of recruiting. That is a separate attribute, although having close ties with area coaches can yield alerts to under-the-radar talent.
Pastner held signee Michael Devoe is an example. Tech coaches developed a relationship with him earlier than other competitors, and he was the sort of recruit that falls into the Yellow Jackets’ sweet spot – good enough to potentially make an impact quickly, but not so good that Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky would be interested.
“You have to be perfect in your evaluation,” he said. “You’ve got to find the Michael Devoe’s early and target them and evaluate them.”
Chances are that Pastner will be deliberate in making the hire, as he was in hiring the initial staff of Tavaras Hardy, Eric Reveno and LaBarrie. He took almost a month to hire those three coaches, that at a time when the season was already complete.
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