Josh Pastner new Memphis Head coach

[Dback Jon]

Josh Pastner will be introduced as the next Memphis coach, a source close to the program has told CBSSports.com.

A news conference is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.

Pastner is known as an elite recruiter from his time at Arizona, where he played for and assisted Lute Olson before joining John Calipari's staff last offseason. This is his first head coaching job. He is 31 years-old.

Before turning to Pastner, Memphis pursued Tim Floyd (USC), Mike Anderson (Missouri), Scott Drew (Baylor) and Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) to varying degrees, both formally and informally. Also, sources told CBSSports.com that officials working on behalf of Memphis reached out to UMass coach Derek Kellogg early Monday, but the officials were told Kellogg would not take the job because he felt loyalty toward his alma mater (UMass) and was concerned about going around good friend and former teammate Tony Barbee of UTEP, whom Calipari had endorsed as his successor.

And that's how Memphis got to Pastner.

Details of the deal in terms of money and years remain unclear.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6271764/14396175

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Good for Josh, he'll do very well there and be ready to come back to Tucson should Sean Miller not succeed or head back East. Arizona Basketball looks like it's in good shape for the next few decades.

 

[Gaddabout]

If he can get local kids in school, he'll never be short for talent to compete. Memphis has some amazing talent (in all sports)

 

[overseascardfan]

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9423374/?MSNHPHMA

It was their only move but a smart move, especially with us landing Miller, Goodman says Cal would have brought him over to Kentucky had Memphis not striked so quickly.

 

[Southpaw]

31 year old H C. Cool. Too bad they didn't take Frank Haith.

 

[Russ Smith]

DeCourcy in SI is reporting the rumor that Pastner has offered Carl henry(father of recruit Xavier and Memphis player CJ) the Director of Basketball OPS is true. Henry appears to be denying it because he says they're waiting for Memphis to send them the release for both sons so they can make their next move.

Recall months ago Carl Henry very publicly stated he had no interest in coaching to quell rumors that Kansas had offered him a job to get Xavier Henry.

This will be interesting, if the NCAA is serious that they are cracking down on package deals, this is the perfect test case. Henry has very publicly stated he has no interest in coaching, if he now goes and takes a job on Memphis' staff(even as a non coach) he's essentially making it perfectly clear he took the job in exchange for his sons staying at Memphis, which is against recruiting rules. I can't see any way Carl Henry can take the job without Memphis getting in trouble if the NCAA's announced crackdown is real.

usually schools get away with it because they just deny the hire was related to the recruit but in this case that would be impossible.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Pretty shady, but KU fans have no right to complain after the Mario Chalmers recruitment. Pastner was one of Chalmers' recruiters at Arizona so I'm guessing this might turn out to be one of those karmic things for KU.

 

[Russ Smith]

Pretty shady, but KU fans have no right to complain after the Mario Chalmers recruitment. Pastner was one of Chalmers' recruiters at Arizona so I'm guessing this might turn out to be one of those karmic things for KU.

I just can't see Memphis doing this without the NCAA immediately getting involved. They very publicly stated we're going to crack down on package deals we have a special task force looking into that stuff. Now here's a guy who very publicly stated he does not want to coach, if he now takes a job on Memphis' staff it's as clear as day it's a package deal.

We'll see but if they really hire Carl Henry it could be a very bad way to start a coaching career if the NCAA is really cracking down on package deals.

 

[Southpaw]

Come on Russ. Carl Henry is overqualified to be hired as Director of BB Operations.

Carl J. Henry (born August 16, 1960 in Hollis, Oklahoma) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'6", 205 lb shooting guard.

Henry attended and played collegiately at both the University of Kansas and Oklahoma City University. Henry led Kansas in scoring in both 1982-83 and 1983-84, averaging 16.8 points per game as a junior, and 17.4 points per game in his senior season. He was selected with the tenth pick of the 4th round (80th overall) in the 1984 National Basketball Association Draft by the Kansas City Kings. His NBA career lasted 28 games with the Sacramento Kings in 1985-86 (by then the franchise had relocated from Kansas City, Missouri). Henry last played basketball in 1993 for Bobcat Gent in Belgium. He's now a traffic controller for an Oklahoma City grocery warehouse with two sons.

 

[DWKB]

Pretty shady, but KU fans have no right to complain after the Mario Chalmers recruitment. Pastner was one of Chalmers' recruiters at Arizona so I'm guessing this might turn out to be one of those karmic things for KU.

Why would KU fans complain? Xavier has already committed to UM. We are in no way entitled to him and he hasn't even been released from his LOI yet. Granted we'd love to have Xavier come play for us, he's a legacy after all, but claiming karma about it at this time kinda sounds like a chance to spout your sour grapes.

Decourcy is also reporting as of this morning that Lance Stephenson has committed to KU, but the formal announcement is on hiatus until they can fully investigate any issues regarding the "Born Ready" website to make sure everything is stand-up.

 

[DWKB]

Come on Russ. Carl Henry is overqualified to be hired as Director of BB Operations.

Do you know what a Director of BB Operations actually does?

 

[Russ Smith]

Do you know what a Director of BB Operations actually does?

I'm not sure anyone does. One of the funnier moments of USC hiring Polee Sr and denying it was a package deal to keep his son committed to SC was when Tim Floyd publicly commented that Polee would be a very valuable recruiter for SC because he was well known from his playing career. One small problem, per NCAA rules Polee was not allowed to do any recruiting, in face he was only allowed to have contact with recruits on campus or within a set number of miles of campus because you can only have 3 coaches actively recruiting at any time and USC already had its 3.

That made it pretty clear Floyd had no idea what Polee would actually do. The claim is he's very involved with the academics of the players, making sure they go to class, helping arrange tutors etc. I assume that's got something to do with what a Director BBall Ops does.

Note, I'm not questioning whether Henry is qualified or not I'm just saying he very publicly said he had no interest in a coaching job connected to his sons so if Memphis now hires him that IMHO is a clear as day package deal. they can't deny that he was hired to keep his son Xavier at memphis because he already admitted he had no interest in such a job. That's why I'll be very surprised if Henry takes the job.

To me this is textbook example of what the NCAA was talking about so if Henry is hired at Memphis and Xavier sticks there, the NCAA will almost HAVE to step in and do something, it's the easiest case to prove they'll ever get.

 

[Southpaw]

Do you know what a Director of BB Operations actually does?

Yes and I was being sarcastic with humor to Russ.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Pastner is cleaning up in 2010. Two McD's AA, top 15 players already committed and in good with a few other top 50 kids. Can't believe he was never a serious candidate for Arizona when things looked pretty bleak.

 

[Russ Smith]

They got Joe Jackson today I think?

I guess now we have to see how Pastner actually coaches but you have to admit his recruiting is top notch. They also appear to be the leader for Jelan Kendrick who some people think is a top 3 talent. UCLA tried to get in on Kendrick but right now he appears Memphis bound.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Some people are saying Memphis' 2010 class could be among the best ever. The guy's killing it out there.