The University of Memphis announced late Monday that assistant coach Josh Pastner was hired to replace John Calipari as its men’s basketball coach.
Pastner joined Calipari’s staff last year after former Tigers’ assistant Derek Kellogg left to take over the head coaching duties at Massachusetts.
Pastner’s hiring makes him one of the youngest head coaches in Division 1 basketball. Prior to joining Calipari’s staff, Pastner served as an assistant coach at Arizona for six seasons under Lute Olson.
For a program looking to make a ‘Wow’ hire, Memphis may very well have accomplished that goal. Pastner’s lack of coaching experience will certainly be scrutinized, but his recruiting abilities make him a potentially savvy choice.
Pastner has a deep network of connections on the AAU circuit, especially in the Houston area where his father, Hal Pastner, is a legendary youth basketball coach.
Pastner was the lead recruiter for Arizona in Olson’s last season two years ago and the top assistant for interim coach Kevin O’Neil during the 2007-08 campaign.
It wasn’t clear what Pastner would be paid to replace Calipari. As an assistant coach in 2008-09, Pastner was paid a base salary of $200,000.
After Calipari announced his resignation last week to take the coaching job at Kentucky, Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson promised supporters he would “get it right” when finding a replacement.
Nearly one week into the search process, the quest to hire a new coach was starting to look like it would take longer than expected. It also appeared Memphis would have to hire a coach from a dwindling list of candidates.
According to sources close to the search process, Memphis made overtures to USC’s Tim Floyd, Missouri’s Mike Anderson, Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl, former Xavier coach Sean Miller – who took the Arizona job – and most recently Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.
Bob Winn, Memphis’ assistant athletic director, said the school will hold a press conference Tuesday at noon to introduce Pastner.
