Here are 10 things to know about Josh Pastner, who was introduced Friday afternoon as the men’s basketball coach at Georgia Tech, succeeding Brian Gregory.
• Overall record as a head coach: 167-73 in seven seasons, all at Memphis.
• At age 16, he took over as coach (from his dad) of the successful AAU program called Houston Hoops. Among the players who played in the program: future NBA players Kendrick Perkins, Stephen Jackson, T.J. Ford and Emeka Okafor and future NFL player Marcus Spears.
• At age 13, he began to show his evaluation skills and salesmanship by publishing the Josh Pastner Scouting Report, a look at Houston-area high school players that became popular among numerous Division I basketball coaches, including Arizona’s Lute Olson, well before Pastner arrived to play for Olson at Arizona.
• He claims not to use profanity and never to have consumed alcohol or soft drinks.
• Played for Olson at Arizona and later was a graduate assistant for Olson. Pastner also was a de facto assistant coach while a player, working with Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Terry and Richard Jefferson on their jump shots and mechanics.
• He also was an assistant under John Calipari at Memphis before succeeding Calipari when he left for Kentucky.
• According to his bio published by Tech, in 20 seasons as a college player or coach, Pastner’s teams have made 17 NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT appearance.
• He also has been part of teams with 20 or more wins in 17 seasons, including four seasons with 30 or more wins.
• He enrolled at Arizona for fall semester 1996 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in December 1998.
• He earned a master’s degree from Arizona in one year.
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