http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/...houn-early


Memphis basketball: Josh Pastner reached out to Jim Calhoun early in coaching career

Dom Amore | The Hartford Courant
Last Updated - Feb 3, 2016 16:22 EST
Contact |Archive |RSS


MEMPHIS -- Twenty years ago this month, a baby-faced Josh Pastner stared at the world from the pages of Sport magazine, under the headline "Boy Scout."

"He was just a tremendous kid," Jim Calhoun recalled. "He loved the game. He got into high-level talent evaluation real early."



Pastner, at 18, was pursuing his own playing career, but was looking ahead to a career of coaching, evaluating, recruiting. His father, Hal, was a major figure in AAU basketball in the Houston area and Josh was also coaching, working one summer with Emeka Okafor.
By age 13, Pastner was taking notes on his teammates and opponents, and compiling "Josh Pastner's Scouting Service," sending it to coaches, eventually putting him in contact with the most prominent coaches in the country.

"He was a kid that I just really liked," Calhoun said.

Pastner, as Sport reported, was precocious enough to apply for the JV coaching job at his high school while he was a student there. He eventually played as a walk-on for Lute Olson at Arizona, earning a degree in 2 1/2 years, and becoming an assistant coach there. Now, at 38, he is in his seventh year as coach at Memphis, where the scrutiny and pressure might give him a gray hair or two before his time, but have knocked none of the passion for coaching and evaluating out of him.

"After being the head coach at Memphis for seven years, I look at myself as a grizzled veteran," he said. "I don't know that I've ever coached a game here that wasn't a crucial game."

The Tigers (13-8, 4-4 in the American Athletic Conference) play UConn at the FedEx Forum Thursday at 9 p.m.

Pastner well remembers his chats with Calhoun.

"Loved him," Pastner said. "He was always good to me, and he didn't have to be good to me. He had no reason to be good to me. But he would always give me the time of day, gave me great advice and as a younger guy, a younger coach, I looked up to him.

"I remember he would talk about working hard and be a sponge. He loved Lute Olson, too, and he would tell me, 'Be a sponge, be a sponge, be a sponge.' So I always took that, that's why I tried to go to clinics and take notes and watch tapes and things like that, things he told me I should do."

Memphis hired him at age 31 to replace John Calipari, an unenviable task.

"Look, it can all be taken away," Pastner said as practice was about to begin Wednesday, "I'm the head coach at Memphis, I got the job at 31. I tried to get Texas Southern, tried to get Prairie View A&M and they wouldn't give me an interview. So here I got an opportunity and I was at the right place at the right time. I lucked into it, because nobody wanted the job, nobody wanted to follow Calipari. Here I am, so it's a blessing, a dream come true and I don't take it for granted."

MORE: 10 reasons this year's March Madness could be one of best yet

Despite his optimism and approachability, Pastner has been firm in running a program consistent with his beliefs, never hesitating to suspend a player. Last Saturday, he held one of the best players, Trahson Burrell, out of the second half against Southern Methodist for an undisclosed violation. Pastner called it "internal discipline." While the Tigers' postseason hopes could ride on the next two games, against UConn and Cincinnati, Pastner gave no guarantees about Burrell's return.

"I've always believed this: No one's bigger than the program," Pastner told the Memphis media. "That goes for myself or anybody else."

And, Pastner went on, he would hold true to that whether his tenure at Memphis ended today, or many years from now.

"He does a nice job coaching," Calhoun said, "and that's a very high-pressure situation, as we know."

In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

But in Memphis, where they are used to filling the 20,000-seat Forum and want to keep it that way, it never seems to be good enough, and Pastner accepts that, lives with it, keep his composure no matter how hot his seat.

"I'm a very clear thinker," he said. "I don't make any rash decisions or rush to judgment. Even in the midst of chaos, I'm able to see this through. Any decision I make, it's based on clear thinking. If you told me as an 18-year-old I would be the head coach at Memphis, and to coach in the NCAA Tournament, win 160 games, man, when I took the job I was happy to get one win. So no matter what happens, I'm living out a dream."

This article was written by Dom Amore from The Hartford Courant and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

Wonder why there is no mention of his record against RPI top 50...or against the AAC...or in the NCAAt??

I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

(02-04-2016 04:56 PM)New Breid Wrote:  I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

Absolutely. The "nobody wanted the job" mantra is, and always was, a myth. Josh is just using it as fodder for the sheep at this point.

(02-04-2016 04:52 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

Wonder why there is no mention of his record against RPI top 50...or against the AAC...or in the NCAAt??

Because that was not the tone of that particular column. It was about the relationship of Pastner and Calhoun, first and foremost.

People forget that not everyone hates the ground upon which Josh Pastner walks, so it's not always necessary to define his deficiencies in every column written about him.

(02-04-2016 04:56 PM)New Breid Wrote:  I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

How did so many coaches express "no interest" in just 4 days? Why would it be a panic move after only 4 days of searching? What was the rush? They offered it to Josh on his way to turn in his keys to go to Kentucky. Nolan Richardson expressed an interest in the job. I just don't believe Josh was on the top of R.C.'s list. Maybe it was the hope so list on this board that was longer, such as Kareem, Michael, Bob Knight, Coach K, Nolan, Avery Johnson to name just a few. I think even a sick Gene Bartow was mentioned here.

(02-04-2016 05:04 PM)Hoots Wrote:  Because that was not the tone of that particular column. It was about the relationship of Pastner and Calhoun, first and foremost.

People forget that not everyone hates the ground upon which Josh Pastner walks, so it's not always necessary to define his deficiencies in every column written about him.

Yet, he used his statement as a lead-in to this...

Quote:But in Memphis, where they are used to filling the 20,000-seat Forum and want to keep it that way, it never seems to be good enough, and Pastner accepts that, lives with it, keep his composure no matter how hot his seat.

He should at least paint the entire picture instead of cherry-picking stats to make JP look better and the fanbase to look unreasonable.

I think Memphis and UConn have a lot in common. Both programs got left behind in conference realignment several years ago and were forced to play against inferior teams to what the norm had been. Calhoun probably looks at Memphis about the way we looked at Marshall. Between that and his well-known animosity towards "Johnny Clam Chowder," I imagine he thinks Memphis deserves no better than Pastner. A lot of people are happy he's here. Most of 'em just don't wear Tiger blue.

"I'm the head coach at Memphis, I got the job at 31. I tried to get Texas Southern, tried to get Prairie View A&M and they wouldn't give me an interview."

All kinds of wow... just, wow. Yep, here you are Skippy; here you are.

(02-04-2016 04:56 PM)New Breid Wrote:  I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

Doesn't take long to go down a list of 3 names until you run out. RC's bluff got called by X, the boosters, the media and the Memphis fanbase.

(02-04-2016 04:52 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

Wonder why there is no mention of his record against RPI top 50...or against the AAC...or in the NCAAt??

You do realize that the only way Pastner leaves without somebody shelling out $10M is for him to leave for another job, don't you? Yet you aren't satisfied unless every national mention of him trashes him.

(02-04-2016 04:52 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

Wonder why there is no mention of his record against RPI top 50...or against the AAC...or in the NCAAt??

You do realize that the only way Pastner leaves without somebody shelling out $10M is for him to leave for another job, don't you? Yet you aren't satisfied unless every national mention of him trashes him.

(02-04-2016 06:14 PM)roundhouse74 Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:52 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

Wonder why there is no mention of his record against RPI top 50...or against the AAC...or in the NCAAt??

You do realize that the only way Pastner leaves without somebody shelling out $10M is for him to leave for another job, don't you? Yet you aren't satisfied unless every national mention of him trashes him.

Beat me to the post. We need to praise every single positive article that comes out.

(02-04-2016 04:58 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:56 PM)New Breid Wrote:  I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

Absolutely. The "nobody wanted the job" mantra is, and always was, a myth. Josh is just using it as fodder for the sheep at this point.

No coach that tiger fans would have embraced would have taken the job from what I've heard from many credible sources.

(02-04-2016 06:19 PM)Penny Lane Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:58 PM)RekeHavoc Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 04:56 PM)New Breid Wrote:  I like Josh. Great human being. Great role model for young men. Just not basketball. He reminds me of the dorky kid that bugs the crap out of you until you let him hang out with you. Persistent, yes. Hard working, yes.

Here is what I cannot stand hearing people say, "Nobody wanted the job". The coaching search only lasted 4 DAYS!!! It was a panic move with the hopes that Josh would be a prodigy so that Johnson and Raines could be like Take that Calipari!

Absolutely. The "nobody wanted the job" mantra is, and always was, a myth. Josh is just using it as fodder for the sheep at this point.

No coach that tiger fans would have embraced would have taken the job from what I've heard from many credible sources.

I heard that the ghost of John Wooden was reaching out through a backchannel medium about the job.

(02-04-2016 04:35 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/...houn-early


Memphis basketball: Josh Pastner reached out to Jim Calhoun early in coaching career

Dom Amore | The Hartford Courant
Last Updated - Feb 3, 2016 16:22 EST
Contact |Archive |RSS


MEMPHIS -- Twenty years ago this month, a baby-faced Josh Pastner stared at the world from the pages of Sport magazine, under the headline "Boy Scout."

"He was just a tremendous kid," Jim Calhoun recalled. "He loved the game. He got into high-level talent evaluation real early."



Pastner, at 18, was pursuing his own playing career, but was looking ahead to a career of coaching, evaluating, recruiting. His father, Hal, was a major figure in AAU basketball in the Houston area and Josh was also coaching, working one summer with Emeka Okafor.
By age 13, Pastner was taking notes on his teammates and opponents, and compiling "Josh Pastner's Scouting Service," sending it to coaches, eventually putting him in contact with the most prominent coaches in the country.

"He was a kid that I just really liked," Calhoun said.

Pastner, as Sport reported, was precocious enough to apply for the JV coaching job at his high school while he was a student there. He eventually played as a walk-on for Lute Olson at Arizona, earning a degree in 2 1/2 years, and becoming an assistant coach there. Now, at 38, he is in his seventh year as coach at Memphis, where the scrutiny and pressure might give him a gray hair or two before his time, but have knocked none of the passion for coaching and evaluating out of him.

"After being the head coach at Memphis for seven years, I look at myself as a grizzled veteran," he said. "I don't know that I've ever coached a game here that wasn't a crucial game."

The Tigers (13-8, 4-4 in the American Athletic Conference) play UConn at the FedEx Forum Thursday at 9 p.m.

Pastner well remembers his chats with Calhoun.

"Loved him," Pastner said. "He was always good to me, and he didn't have to be good to me. He had no reason to be good to me. But he would always give me the time of day, gave me great advice and as a younger guy, a younger coach, I looked up to him.

"I remember he would talk about working hard and be a sponge. He loved Lute Olson, too, and he would tell me, 'Be a sponge, be a sponge, be a sponge.' So I always took that, that's why I tried to go to clinics and take notes and watch tapes and things like that, things he told me I should do."

Memphis hired him at age 31 to replace John Calipari, an unenviable task.

"Look, it can all be taken away," Pastner said as practice was about to begin Wednesday, "I'm the head coach at Memphis, I got the job at 31. I tried to get Texas Southern, tried to get Prairie View A&M and they wouldn't give me an interview. So here I got an opportunity and I was at the right place at the right time. I lucked into it, because nobody wanted the job, nobody wanted to follow Calipari. Here I am, so it's a blessing, a dream come true and I don't take it for granted."

MORE: 10 reasons this year's March Madness could be one of best yet

Despite his optimism and approachability, Pastner has been firm in running a program consistent with his beliefs, never hesitating to suspend a player. Last Saturday, he held one of the best players, Trahson Burrell, out of the second half against Southern Methodist for an undisclosed violation. Pastner called it "internal discipline." While the Tigers' postseason hopes could ride on the next two games, against UConn and Cincinnati, Pastner gave no guarantees about Burrell's return.

"I've always believed this: No one's bigger than the program," Pastner told the Memphis media. "That goes for myself or anybody else."

And, Pastner went on, he would hold true to that whether his tenure at Memphis ended today, or many years from now.

"He does a nice job coaching," Calhoun said, "and that's a very high-pressure situation, as we know."

In Memphis, post-Calipari, the bar might be out of reach for any coach. Pastner gained the reputation as a tireless recruiter under Olson and Calipari, and his teams at Memphis, including the current one, have never lacked for talent. He is 161-66, a 70.9 winning percentage, including an 18-0 season in Conference USA play the year before the move to the AAC.

But in Memphis, where they are used to filling the 20,000-seat Forum and want to keep it that way, it never seems to be good enough, and Pastner accepts that, lives with it, keep his composure no matter how hot his seat.

"I'm a very clear thinker," he said. "I don't make any rash decisions or rush to judgment. Even in the midst of chaos, I'm able to see this through. Any decision I make, it's based on clear thinking. If you told me as an 18-year-old I would be the head coach at Memphis, and to coach in the NCAA Tournament, win 160 games, man, when I took the job I was happy to get one win. So no matter what happens, I'm living out a dream."

This article was written by Dom Amore from The Hartford Courant and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

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(02-04-2016 05:29 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  ...I imagine he thinks Memphis deserves no better than Pastner. A lot of people are happy he's here. Most of 'em just don't wear Tiger blue.

This is what I think a lot of people here don't understand. The way the college basketball world see Memphis is most definitely not in a positive light. There is nothing worse than sitting behind a couple of Div I coaches and listening to them laugh at Pastner and the Memphis program like I witnessed earlier this year here in Vegas. It's humiliating.

(02-04-2016 06:48 PM)tigerpride96 Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 05:29 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  ...I imagine he thinks Memphis deserves no better than Pastner. A lot of people are happy he's here. Most of 'em just don't wear Tiger blue.

This is what I think a lot of people here don't understand. The way the college basketball world see Memphis is most definitely not in a positive light. There is nothing worse than sitting behind a couple of Div I coaches and listening to them laugh at Pastner and the Memphis program like I witnessed earlier this year here in Vegas. It's humiliating.

names?

(02-04-2016 06:56 PM)k2tigers Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 06:48 PM)tigerpride96 Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 05:29 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  ...I imagine he thinks Memphis deserves no better than Pastner. A lot of people are happy he's here. Most of 'em just don't wear Tiger blue.

This is what I think a lot of people here don't understand. The way the college basketball world see Memphis is most definitely not in a positive light. There is nothing worse than sitting behind a couple of Div I coaches and listening to them laugh at Pastner and the Memphis program like I witnessed earlier this year here in Vegas. It's humiliating.

names?

crickets