Not long after Brian Gregory’s tenure at Georgia Tech ended after five seasons with his dismissal March 25, Josh Pastner received a phone call. A search firm representing Tech was at the other end, gauging the Memphis coach’s interest in the job.
“Absolutely,” Pastner said Friday, recalling his response. “It’s a home run.”
The end product of that conversation was Pastner sitting next to Tech Athletic Director Mike Bobinski at a news conference Friday at McCamish Pavilion, where he was presented as the Yellow Jackets’ new coach. He steps away from seven seasons at Memphis, a run in which he finished with a 167-73 record and led the Tigers to four NCAA tournament appearances, but drew calls for his job after back-to-back seasons in which the team missed the postseason.
“I truly believe Georgia Tech, the job here, is a true gold mine,” he said, apparently not intending the pun. “You have an opportunity to have the highest-level success that you strive for, and that is what excited me and makes me so enthused about this job.”
Pastner replaces Gregory, who won admiration from fans for his integrity and heart, but his final season excepted, did not win sufficiently. Bobinski pitched Pastner as similar to Gregory in his character, but also bringing a solid resume of on-court success and a record of recruiting elite talent.
“I actually think he fits our situation better than he fits the Memphis situation,” Bobinski said. “Who he is and how he’s put together, I think this is made to order for him, I really do.”
Bobinski said he spoke face to face with nine candidates — Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel, Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew (now at Vanderbilt) and Butler coach Chris Holtmann are among the knowns. Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, Boston Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga were among other candidates. His travels in the search took him to eight states. Of all, Bobinski said that Pastner proved to be his top candidate. Bobinski said that he and Drew, a popular choice of fans, came to the mutual conclusion at their meeting at the Final Four in Houston that it wasn’t an ideal match.
“I think Bryce and Vanderbilt is a really good fit. I think a way better fit than Bryce and Georgia Tech,” Bobinski said.
Bobinski’s evaluation aside, the selection of Pastner was not a smash among alumni and fans, in no small part because Memphis fans were celebrating his departure when news of the hire broke late Thursday night. The Tigers missed the postseason each of the past two seasons, ending a 14-year streak of postseason appearances that included two runs to the Elite Eight and one to the national championship game.
The length of the search — two weeks — and the number of candidates who appeared to pass on Tech “is going to invite some level of questioning, Monday morning quarterbacking, and probably some criticism, and I think that is just a fact of life and probably deserved, in my opinion,” said Gregg Garrett, a major donor. “With that being said, Josh is the coach. He’ll have my support, and I look forward to getting this program back to where we all want it to be.”
No doubt aware of the less enthusiastic reviews, Bobinski was confident in his selection and did not believe he was taking any great risk. Bobinski said he spoke with many people to understand how the situation at Memphis unraveled, with several transfers, and came away with satisfied with the explanations.
Pastner’s contract is for six years, the same length as Gregory’s initial deal. The value has yet to be finalized, but will be somewhere between Gregory’s annual take ($1.1 million) and Pastner’s at Memphis ($2.65 million).
At Memphis, he signed four McDonald’s All-Americans over seven seasons and had two classes that ranked in ESPN’s top five nationally. Among the first high schoolers he’ll need to convince to come to Tech are the three prospects who signed with Tech in the fall when Gregory was in charge — forwards Romello White (Wheeler High) and Christian Matthews (from Fort Washington, Md.) and guard Josh Okogie (Shiloh High).
Pastner said he received NCAA clearance to represent Tech on Friday. He can be set loose on the loaded class of rising seniors, which includes seven Georgia players in ESPN’s top 60 prospects.
“I’ve recruited a lot here, and the grass-roots basketball in this city is as good as any grass-roots basketball as there is in the country,” he said.
He gave respect to his three most recent predecessors, Bobby Cremins, Paul Hewitt and Gregory, and in fact called each Friday.
“It can be a championship-level program, year in, year out,” he said. “That’s what we’re striving to get to in time.”
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