Georgia Tech’s Director of Athletics, J Batt has only been on board since late October after moving over from Alabama to take the position in Atlanta. Batt made his second significant hiring/firing decision Friday (no spoiler here) with the release of Josh Pastner as head basketball coach. His first was the hiring of Brent Key to head the football program. Batt stated in the school’s media release, “We have high expectations at Georgia Tech for all of our sports programs, and it is imperative that Men’s Basketball achieves a greater level of success.”
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The release of Pastner comes on the heels of Syracuse parting ways with Jim Boeheim following the team’s loss in the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament. In Pastner’s seven seasons as head coach of the Yellow Jackets he’s accumulated an overall record of 109-114 and 51-78 in the ACC. His shining glory was the single NCAA Tournament he took the team to after winning the ACC Tournament in 2021.
Spoiler
Pastner dealt with NCAA recruiting violations brought on by the action of an acquaintance and a post-season ban against the program in 2020. Some of those sanctions were later over-turned.
His first season at Georgia Tech, ’16-’17 Pastner led the team to a 21-16 record even though the Yellow Jackets were picked to finish last in the ACC and he played spoiler much like in ’21. The team finished the season as an NIT runner-up and Pastner was named ACC Coach of the Year.
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Batt finished his release saying, “Our search for a new Head Men’s Basketball Coach is underway, and while we will be deliberate in our process, we will move as fast as possible. We seek a new coach who shares our vision and our values and who can best lead us to the very highest levels of sustained success in our Men’s Basketball program. In the meantime, Anthony Wilkins, who has been a member of our Men’s Basketball staff since 2018, will serve as our interim head coach.”
There should not be any spoiler to this story unless you were a die-hard Pastner fan who saw past his many flaws in turning the corner with this team.
