Men's College Basketball, NCAA Basketball NEWS
Memphis Tigers Hire New Basketball Assistants
Published by MFSKEN on June 13, 2008
The University of Memphis’ basketball program’s recent success garnered attention for coaching vacancies around the country.
Former Tiger assistant Chuck Martin was hired as the head coach at Marist on April 17 and Derek Kellogg became the head coach at the University of Massachusetts on April 23, leaving two vacancies on John Calipari’s staff.
Let’s look at the two newest assistant basketball coaches for the Memphis Tigers.
Josh Pastner
Hometown: Kingwood, TX
Education – Pastner earned an undergraduate degree in family studies in two and a half years and a master’s in another year.
Playing Career – Arizona walk-on guard from Kingwood, Texas. Part of UA’s NCAA championship team. Was named Academic All-Pac-10 second team, ended UA playing career averaging 0.9 points a game in 42 games.
Coaching Career – Coached AAU Houston Hoops to Nike tournament title. He became an undergraduate assistant coach after his playing eligibility expired in 2000-01 and served as an administrative aide in 2001-02. In April of 2002 was named an assistant coach at Arizona. 2000-01: Lute Olson names him UA graduate assistant coach. 2001-02: Is appointed UA’s video and recruiting coordinator.
April 2002: Is named UA assistant. 2005: Rivals.com calls him one of nation’s top 25 recruiters. 2007: Turns down Marquette and Kentucky assistant’s job.
2008: Accepts offer from Memphis as assistant to John Calipari. Pastner essentially takes the position formerly held by Derek Kellogg, who left to become head coach at UMass
From everything I’ve learned about new Tiger assistant Josh Pastner, he is one of the most cheerful, positive, driven and successful people you could ever meet. Even his answering machine message is inspirational. After the usual “leave your number”, it ends with, “Have an awesome day today – positive thoughts and positive energy and happy hoops!”
Josh wrote scouting reports at a very young age and sent them out to college coaches writing about the players he watched. At the age of 13 he received calls and letters from schools wanting to order the “Josh Pastner Scouting Report”. Josh would sit in the gyms for hours and pick the brains of every head coach during the “live” recruiting period when he was young to learn all he could.
Josh is extremely loyal and loved Tucson. Anyone with less loyalty would have left Arizona long before John Calipari expressed his interest in having Pastner join the Tiger staff. He was caught in the middle of a coaching nightmare. Long-time assistant Jim Rosborough was released. Kevin O’Neill wasn’t given an opportunity to finish the second year of his contract. Miles Simon’s contract was not renewed. Pastner, who is 30 years of age, had become the most stable figure in the program.
There’s no questioning his loyalty. Pastner could have gone to Kentucky as an assistant to Billy Gillispie last season. He could have gone to other places, at other times. This was clearly the time to move on after the seventh place Pac-10 finish this year.
Among the adjectives used to portray Pastner: tireless, relentless, overachieving, driven and successful. Pastner was a key cog in the Wildcats’ recruiting efforts and worked with the program’s big men.
Pastner’s tireless efforts on the recruiting trail paid big dividends for the program, as the Wildcats successfully recruited top-notch athletes. Arizona’s recruiting classes were among the best nationally in each of his four seasons as a full-time member of the coaching staff.
He once told Anthony Gemini of the Tucson Citizen, “If I was about to get married and my bride and I were walking down the aisle, I guarantee you my phone would be on my clip. And not turned off, either. I’d give the moment some respect and put it on vibrate, but I wouldn’t turn it off.”
Orlando Antigua
Hometown – Bronx, N.Y.
Education – Bachelor of Arts- Social Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; St. Raymond’s High School, Bronx, N.Y.
Coaching Career – Director of Basketball Operations, University of Pittsburgh, 2003-2008; Assistant Basketball Coach, Mt. Lebanon High School, 2002-03.
Playing Career – As a high school player at St. Raymond’s in the Bronx, Mr. Antigua was named to the McDonald’s All-American team. University of Pittsburgh, 1991-95 Named the USBWA Most Courageous Athlete award recipient in 1994; two-year team captain; named to Big East All-Rookie Team after the 1991-92 season; started in 78 games, averaged 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 116 career games from 1991-95; concluded career as one of Pittsburgh’s best all-time three-point shooters (.386, 117-303). Dominican Republic National Team, 1994-95, 1997-98
Orlando “Hurricane” Antigua played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1995-2002, becoming the first player of Latin American descent to join the Globetrotters. In addition, Antigua served as an ambassador for the Globetrotters during the club’s 75th anniversary tour.
This new Tiger coach has overcome a lot in his lifetime. In 1988 Antigua was an innocent bystander and was shot in the head and came back to play for his high school team two weeks later. That experience changed his perspective on life at the tender age of 14. It helped him appreciate friends and family members. It also helped him realize he had a love and passion for the game of basketball.
His family went through a period of homelessness during his childhood. Fortunately, he was able to be around positive people at that time, and they helped him overcome that challenge.
One thing most people don’t know about Orlando Antigua is that he has a fine sense of what to wear and even has a few bow ties in his collection.
“Orlando is a great addition to the Memphis basketball family,” said University of Memphis Coach John Calipari. “He is a tireless worker and an energy guy. Orlando has enjoyed a great amount of success in every stage of his basketball career as a player, operations director and assistant coach. Orlando is a winner, and we’re looking forward to having him come on board.”
“I’m excited about coming to Memphis and joining Coach (John) Calipari’s staff,” said Antigua. “I’ve known Coach Calipari for years and admired what he has done from a distance. But now, to get to work side-by-side with a future Hall of Fame coach is a tremendous opportunity for me, and I look forward to learning a lot from him.”
“I’m excited about working at a great university with an outstanding basketball program. Memphis has a rich basketball tradition, and I want to help continue that by recruiting quality student-athletes that excel in the classroom and on the court. My family and I are also looking forward to eating lots of barbecue.”
“I have known Orlando for 20 years, and he is one of the best people I’ve ever met,” said Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News. “It’s that simple. His enthusiasm is infectious. His integrity is above reproach. He is genuine. I’m absolutely certain Memphis is going to love him.”
Fluent in Spanish, Antigua and his wife, Dana, have two children: son, Orlando Anthony, and daughter, Olivia.
I am personally very excited about these two fine coaches. I can remember in years past, bringing in assistants with very good recruiting skills. But these two coaches are among the best in the business and are certainly grooming their pedigrees with their eyes on becoming head coaches themselves one day.
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Bryan on Fri, 13th Jun 2008 16:52
As an Arizona student and avid Wildcat fan, you’re getting one hell of a worker in Josh Pastner. People around here want him back in Tucson after Lute retires, and he’s absolutely got the drive to take over the program. Good luck in Memphis, Josh!
Lance on Fri, 13th Jun 2008 16:56
I have to agree with Bryan. Josh is truly an amazing person and Tucson is going to miss him. He breaths, eats and sleeps NCAA basketball. Memphis just scored.
MoonDog on Fri, 13th Jun 2008 16:57
Bryan – Everything we’ve heard about Josh has been positive. Not to rub it in but clearly this is a huge gain for the Tigers and a big loss for the Wildcats.
I wonder if the Tigers and Wildcats will schedule a game next season?
Thanks for chiming in.
MoonDog on Fri, 13th Jun 2008 17:20
Lance – Just to echo what I told Bryan, this is a huge boon for an already successful program. The Tigers are loading up with talented players and coaches.
It will be most beneficial over the next few seasons having Josh on the staff.
Thanks for coming by.
MFSKEN on Fri, 13th Jun 2008 17:29
Bryan and Lance thanks for the comments. I was so impressed with everything I heard about Lance and Orlando. These two coaches definitely have bright futures in NCAA basketball.
As far as his return to Arizona, you just never know how things will work out. I have every reason to believe that Josh will want to return.
Top programs like Arizona don’t usually hire assitant coaches. They usually want someone with a proven head coaching record.