In a radio interview Wednesday, Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury stood solidly behind coach Josh Pastner in the midst of the NCAA investigation into the basketball team. Stansbury told The Fan on his weekly appearance that the investigation "in no way affects Josh."
In the NCAA enforcement staff’s notice of allegations sent to Tech in February and released by the school last Friday, the NCAA deemed that the violations lodged against former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie and Pastner’s former friend Ron Bell constituted a Level I violation – the most serious category of rule-breaking.
However, Stansbury said that there was nothing surprising in the report and confirmed that the violations have nothing to do with Pastner (who was not named in the notice of allegations), his employment at Tech or any potential penalties.
“Correct,” Stansbury said. “Josh was not named in the notice of allegations, and there was no new information than what has already been reported, and so this in no way affects Josh. We’re just looking forward to getting through this process and being able to move on from it.”
Stansbury further offered his support for Pastner, whose third season ended with a record of 14-18, the ninth consecutive season that the Yellow Jackets have missed the NCAA tournament. Pastner has stated his belief that Tech can make the tournament next season. Stansbury cautioned that "it's not going to happen overnight" and noted that ACC competitors Duke, North Carolina and Virginia all received No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, making the conference "the toughest neighborhood in America."
“I think Josh is building it according to plan,” said Stansbury, appearing on the Chuck and Chernoff Show. “We’ve got some key parts of the team in place, and the idea is to take those kids and we’ll be adding a few more here in the spring where we have some needs. But then the nature of the program is developing these players. And I think that’s what we’ve seen over the last three years.”
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