Memphis Hires new Coach

[Braves4Life]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11600010

DETROIT -- Josh Pastner will be introduced as the next Memphis coach, a source close to the program told CBSSports.com on Monday.

A news conference is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.

Pastner is known as an elite recruiter from his time at Arizona, where he played for and assisted Lute Olson before joining John Calipari's staff last offseason. This is his first head coaching job.

Before turning to Pastner, Memphis pursued Tim Floyd (USC), Mike Anderson (Missouri), Scott Drew (Baylor) and Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) to varying degrees, both formally and informally. Also, sources told CBSSports.com that officials working on behalf of Memphis reached out to UMass coach Derek Kellogg early Monday, but the officials were told Kellogg would not take the job because he felt loyalty toward his alma mater (UMass) and was concerned about going around good friend and former teammate Tony Barbee of UTEP, whom Calipari had endorsed as his successor.

And that's how Memphis got to Pastner.

Details of the deal in terms of money and years remain unclear.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4047664

Memphis decided to stay in house.

Assistant coach Josh Pastner will be named the next head coach at the school at a news conference at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Memphis athletics spokesman Bob Winn said on Monday.

Pastner, 31, replaces John Calipari who became the head coach at Kentucky last week. A source close to the Memphis program told ESPN.com that Memphis turned to Pastner to ensure continuity in the program after Calipari's success and subsequent departure.

[houstonbrave]

Wow-I did not see this one happening. Josh Pastner is from Kingwood, TX where I have lived for most of the last 19 years ("coincidentally" Josh played at the same high school as current AZ point guard Nic Wise). To say he played for Lute Olson is a bit of a stretch. He almost never played and was essentially an assistant coach on scholarship. He should be incredibly well connected in the AAU circuit. His father owned/founded Vision Sports which has a big league in Houston and more importantly operates 5 big AAU tournaments nationally-Kingwood, Las Vegas(3), Dallas, etc. He is a very highly rated recruiter but has never been a head coach. It is a big stage for your first head coaching job but good luck to him. Maybe he will get some of the Memphis recruits to consider staying ??

[tornado]

Memphis interviewed Baylor's Scott Drew....but passed on him...
there are rumors that this HIT PIECE in the Memphis Commercial Appeal was a factor in torpedoing Scott Drew's chances..

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/03/geoff-calkins-jury-scott-drews-peers-shocked-memph/

anyone have thoughts...is this good journalism or what...

"(Baylor head coach) Scott Drew is...
.. people who know Drew seem to think...(he is)...
1) A phony.
2) A man who has never met a recruiting rule he couldn't bend.
3) A lousy bench coach.
4) And, really, what more do you need?"

It's not just me, saying worrisome things about Drew, either. It's everyone. Jeff Goodman, the national college basketball writer for Fox Sports, said on
my radio show that hiring Drew would be a mistake. Texas coach Rick Barnes has publicly criticized Drew's recruiting tactics.
George Lapides -- a newspaperman without a newspaper -- took the extraordinary step on his radio show of warning Memphis not to hire Drew."

[Braves4Life]

anyone have thoughts...is this good journalism or what...

I think the fact that he was willing to attribute sources to some of the quotes/opinions about Drew make this a reputable story. I can't say whether or not it was factual. If it wasn't, however, I would think that Drew, or Goodman, or Barnes would have a case to make by suing this writer for slander.

Scouter? Where are you? Opinion?

[brocks]

Underwhelming hire. The rest of CUSA might actually have a chance the next few years.

[houstontxbrave]

Wow-I did not see this one happening. Josh Pastner is from Kingwood, TX where I have lived for most of the last 19 years ("coincidentally" Josh played at the same high school as current AZ point guard Nic Wise). To say he played for Lute Olson is a bit of a stretch. He almost never played and was essentially an assistant coach on scholarship. He should be incredibly well connected in the AAU circuit. His father owned/founded Vision Sports which has a big league in Houston and more importantly operates 5 big AAU tournaments nationally-Kingwood, Las Vegas(3), Dallas, etc. He is a very highly rated recruiter but has never been a head coach. It is a big stage for your first head coaching job but good luck to him. Maybe he will get some of the Memphis recruits to consider staying ??

I wonder if U of Houston, Texas Southern or Prairie View wish they had the interview with Pastner back? U of H really dropped the ball when they went with Penders instead of Pastner who is connected here in Houston, while Penders has no interest in Houston High Schools or working the AAU.

[Bravesfan]

My view on this is since when is Scott Drew a shady character and a bad bench coach? I thought the whole Drew family are people of great character and integrity, not to mention some of the nicest people in college basketball. This is BIG news to me if any of this is remotely true, which I highly doubt!

As far the Pastner hiring is concerned, I would write the guy off. Internal hiring has served teams like Butler, Gonzaga and SIU very well. I don't see Memphis dominating CUSA like they did under Calipari, but they will still be a serious threat to win the league from year to year for the very reason that he knows their system. Recruiting though may be another matter. That's why I believe teams like Tulsa, Houston and UAB finally will have a legitimate shot at the NCAA Tournament in the very near future.