Pastner replaces Brian Gregory, who went 76-86 in five seasons with the Yellow Jackets, including just 27-61 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and made one postseason appearance.
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Georgia Tech basketball has been looking for a new head coach this offseason. Before that, he was an assistant coach with Memphis.
Moore will reopen his recruitment, his high school coach told ESPN.com. His buyout, according to Parrish, was over $10-million, and Memphis didn’t have it. But outside interest isn’t letting Memphis shed any tears about eight figures of scratch.
While Pastner coaches the Yellow Jackets, Georgia Tech will still owe money to the team’s previous two coaches. Penny Hardaway is a Memphis legend, who has been involved with the local AAU scene for the past four years, particularly with the Nike EYBL series, considered by most as the top league for prep prospects to compete in.
Memphis was reportedly reluctant to fire Pastner to avoid paying a $10 million buy out.
Where Pastner ran into problems was his inability to coax enough wins out of his most talented rosters.
Pastner went 167-73 in seven seasons at Memphis, guiding the Tigers to four NCAA tournament appearances from 2011-2014. The team made the postseason for the first time in Gregory’s five seasons, winning two games in the NIT before losing in the quarterfinals. Two of his heralded recruits at Memphis were signed from Atlanta 2015-16 senior Shaq Goodwin and Tiger Jelan Kendrick, though Kendrick later was dismissed from the team by Pastner before playing at MS and UNLV.
It also didn’t help Pastner that he never seemed to address his weaknesses in player development and as a tactician.
In any case, it’s a good situation for Pastner to be in, because he holds all the cards. Being more of an academic school, Georgia Tech might bode well for Pastner. He needs a tactically savvy assistant with head coaching experience to fill the same role for him that Mike Dunlap initially did for Steve Lavin at St. John’s a few years back.
The payment to Pastner, who was introduced today as Georgia Tech’s new basketball coach, makes up for what had been a higher salary at Memphis.
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Memphis and Pastner can both celebrate badly needed fresh starts. The terms of his agreement with Georgia Tech were not immediately available.
