Pastner was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, in the state"s northern panhandle, the son of Marla and Hal Pastner, who is a high school/Amateur Athletic Union coach and basketball promoter in the Houston area. However, he grew up in the Kingwood master-planned community of Houston, Texas. At the age of 16, the Houston Hoops Amateur Athletic Union squad was turned over to Pastner by his father, his first job as a head coach.
Pastner was a player on the 1997 Arizona Wildcats men"s basketball national championship team, an assistant coach at the University of Arizona under Lute Olson and at the University of Memphis under John Calipari. Pastner has been praised for being a tireless recruiter. Early years
Josh Pastner is Jewish.
Josh knew he wanted to be a coach since he was in the 5th grade.
By the age of 13 he was publishing the Josh Pastner Scouting Report of local high school talent in the Houston area. While an Amateur Athletic Union coach, Pastner coached future National Basketball Association players such as Emeka Okafor, T. J. Ford and Daniel Gibson.
Playing career
Josh Pastner was a walk-on freshman on the 1997 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship University of Arizona basketball team After winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association title, Pastner was able to finish his degree in only two and a half years, taking as many as 33 units per semester.
He earned his bachelor"s degree in Family Studies from Arizona in December 1998.
He finished his master"s in Teaching and Teacher Education in December 1999 before beginning work on his doctorate and starting his coaching career in 2000 as a graduate-assistant under Lute Olson at Arizona. Coaching career
Pastner served as an assistant coach under Lute Olson at the University of Arizona from 2002 to 2008. Prior to Olson"s retirement, Pastner left the University of Arizona to serve as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Memphis during the 2008-2009 season.
Pastner earned a reputation as a tireless recruiter during his years as an assistant coach.
On April 6, 2009, Josh Pastner was selected to replace John Calipari as head coach at the University of Memphis. Pastner"s first contract with Memphis was for $4.4 million over five years.
Pastner"s recruits from the 2010 high school class were ranked as one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. After a 2010-2011 season which included a Conference United States of America tournament championship and appearance in the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, Pastner signed a 5 year, $1.7 million (annually) contract extension with the Tigers.
On March 21, 2013, the Tigers defeated the Saint Mary"s Gaels 54-52, giving Pastner his first National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament victory as a head coach.
On the heels of his first National Collegiate Athletic Association victory and the signing of a top 5 recruiting class for 2013, Pastner"s contract was extended through 2019-2020 and his pay was raised to 2.65 per year. After starting his career 0-13 against ranked teams, Pastner coached the Tigers to a 73-68 victory over #5 Oklahoma State on December 1, 2013. The 2013-2014 Tigers entered the season ranked #13 in the country, though the team ultimately earned an 8 seed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament and lost by 18 points in the round of 32 to Virginia.
The 2014-2015 Tigers did not make the National Collegiate Athletic Association or National Institute of Technology tournaments, which marked the first time in 15 years that the Tigers had missed the postseason.
Memphis
Elliot Williams
Will Barton
Doctorate. J. Stephens
Adonis Thomas
Tarik Black
Joe Jackson
Will Coleman
Willie Kemp
Three of Pastner"s former assistant coaches have gone on to their own career as head coach. Assistant coaches
Jason Gardner – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (2014–present)
Jack Murphy – Northern Arizona (2012–present)
Willis Wilson – Texas Agricultural and Mechanical–Corpus Christi (2011–present)
Damon Stoudamire - University of the Pacific (2016-present).
