New Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury said men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner reminds him of Bobby Cremins when he took over the Yellow Jackets’ program in the early 1980s.
“(He was) running as fast as he could trying to figure this thing out and put the pieces together,” Stansbury said, who was a student at Tech when Cremins started. Cremins coached at Tech for 19 seasons and compiled a record of 354-237.
Stansbury, formerly athletic director at Oregon State, said when he heard that previous athletic director Mike Bobinski had chosen Pastner to replace the fired Brian Gregory he was proud as a Tech alum.
That admiration came partially from Stansbury’s observances of Pastner when both were competing in the American Athletic Conference, Stansbury as AD at Central Florida and Pastner as head coach at Memphis.
“From afar, what I always admired about Josh is the way he treats people,” Stansbury said. “… whether you were the guy sweeping the floor, a parent, fan, opposing parent, a student, at end of game he took time to say hello, shake hands, take pictures, sign autographs.
“For a guy, he’s at the top of the food chain, to be that accessible … he’s just a good guy. From afar that’s always the impression I had of him.”
Stansbury said he has met with Pastner only briefly, but knows that’s he a recruiting fanatic who is full of positive energy.
“I’m really excited about working with Josh and think he’s the right guy for he job,” Stansbury said.
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