Josh Pastner Won't Save Georgia Tech Basketball

It didn’t seem like the most exciting hire when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets decided to make Josh Pastner their head coach, but it appears he’s serious about turning things around and making an overlooked program into one with some relevance. Unfortunately for him, that would probably be a tall order for the most seasoned of head coaches. Pastner, on the other hand, has less than ten years of head coaching experience and will have the unenviable task of matching wits with several coaches with resumes that are Hall of Fame-worthy.

Whether you want to agree or not, it’s best not to expect too much here. This is basketball at Georgia Tech that we’re discussing. Don’t believe for one second that you’re convincing the best high school players in the country to join the Yellow Jackets when there are so many other attractive options to play ball at other schools.

That’s not a knock on Pastner. It would be erroneous to doubt his ability as a head coach. He’s served as an assistant to both John Calipari and Lute Olson and was eventually elevated to the head coaching job for the Memphis Tigers. After seven years he had won almost seventy percent of his games with a 167-73 record. Asking him to duplicate those types of results in the mighty ACC is still probably too much to ask for.

So far, the biggest news we’ve heard here is about a headline-grabbing statement Pastner made concerning his desire that his assistant coaches not play golf. That actually could be seen as encouraging for fans of this team. Pastner clarified his statement recently by saying he meant he’ll be working around the clock and wants the same effort out of his assistant coaches. No fan would ever complain about that type of statement.