MBob
Welcome here, great day for GT basketball and been an exhausting couple of weeks. Extremely thorough search and affirming of the opportunity here at GT, believed we have a chance to build a championship program here.
Certain qualities and things we wanted in our new coach, one was integrity and was something we wouldn't slip on.
Several excellent candidates once we worked through the individual who fit best was Josh Pastner.
Couple of observations on Josh, he has a got a really unique and interesting background in basketball. He was evaluating players at age 13, very unique story and basketball is in his DNA.
ON CONTACT FOR THE FIRST TIME
Josh was one of the first people interested in the job, lots of logistics involved, first time we spoke was in Houston, face-to-face during Final Four weekend.
PASTNER
Very privileged and honored to be the coach at GT, I understand the chair I'll be sitting in and what it means the community and alumni locally and nationally.
I thought BG and his staff did a great job and the culture set forth for the guys here and his staff deserve credit for that and coach Hewitt and coach Cremins, I talked to all three today and had great conversations.
When you are in coaching you want to win a National Championship and have a championship program year in and year out, it is a gold mine here and you can have the highest level of success and that is what excited me. It won't happen overnight, we will have to have patience and we are going to do it the right way and recruit like crazy. We want to target the right GT student athlete and that starts locally, regional, nationally. GT is a national brand, but we want to protect home base. That doesn't mean every prospect in the locale is the right fit for us or them, but we want to build a wall and fence around GA. I want to recruit nationally and GT's academic rep. and the great stuff we can sell in the city.
I just met with the team and a great group of young men who are returning. Lost a lot of scoring and rebounding and stats, a lot of guys will be getting their most minutes this year, it is a new transition and it is part of building to that point of having a championship program, if you can get to the second weekend anything can happen and you can get to the Final Four like Cremins and Hewitt did.
I have great respect for the players here and the players that were here before, because of the former SAs I know GT can compete at a national level. It is as high a level as anyone in the country. We need to get those former players in the mix, we need to utilize the former players. It will take a village, it is not my team, it is our team, the GT community, it is the city's team and we have to all be in hand and hand and foot and foot with the goal of making GT the best program it can be.
It will take time, but we will build a championship program and the fans and city can be proud of our program, it will take multiple recruiting classes with the vision of being a championship program.
ON ASSSISTANTS
I'm not going to rush any hires, want to make the right hires in partnership with MBob, people have called me to say I'm working for one of the best ADs in the country, work with him in partnership with the staff and go through the staff, fine comb everything. I recognize I could be by myself for a short period of time.
ON RECRUITING
I've recruited a lot, the grassroots hoops here are as good as anywhere, NYC, LA, Dallas, Atlanta and the surrounding areas it is a credit to the AAU coaches and the people here.
ON GT SIGNEES
Just got cleared from compliance wise to talk to these guys and we will do everything the right way and instill the right way moving forward. Reach out to the three signees and we don't have a lot of numbers so we need all three to come here and not sure if we will sign anyone else in the 2016 class unless they can help us win. Will see who is good enough and can handle the academics. If a guy doesn't show we will see who is out here.
ON ACC TRANSITION COACH WISE
They could go another ten years, two years and when they decide to retire, there programs but won't fall off the map, the challenge is selling and vision of competing at the highest level and you want to compete at the highest level, with the best league and TV package and GT gives prospects that option, prospects can put a stamp on it and put it back at a high level and we have opportunities here, the whole part of the job, the academic piece is a strong part of this.
ON MEMPHIS
I loved my time there and 7 years, followed coach Cal, had the greatest run of wins in recent histories and intense situation there and got better as a coach, I loved my time and had a great experience there and the things
ON ROSTER TURNOVER
Last year over 700 transfers and close to 900 this year, evolution of college basketball and sometimes in this day and age, a young man doesn't feel like he is playing enough and the academic piece for the SA, but they are committed to the academic piece and it is a two-pronged thing and that excites me.
ON MEMPHIS STRUGGLES MADE HIM OPEN TO LOOK AROUND
Part of it in Memphis is it is an intense job and understood who I was following and we averaged 24-25 wins a year, Cal averaged 30, when guy had 27 straight wins in front of you, we had an injury or two that hurt us too and a late transfer we would have been in the NCAA tournament. You have to build this from the bottom up and I love the fact in time you can have a championship level program, the build part of it is something that makes me enthused about it.
ON PLAYING STYLE
CBG is a great basketball mind and a great coach, well-prepared and coached,
Welcome here, great day for GT basketball and been an exhausting couple of weeks. Extremely thorough search and affirming of the opportunity here at GT, believed we have a chance to build a championship program here.
Certain qualities and things we wanted in our new coach, one was integrity and was something we wouldn't slip on.
Several excellent candidates once we worked through the individual who fit best was Josh Pastner.
Couple of observations on Josh, he has a got a really unique and interesting background in basketball. He was evaluating players at age 13, very unique story and basketball is in his DNA.
ON CONTACT FOR THE FIRST TIME
Josh was one of the first people interested in the job, lots of logistics involved, first time we spoke was in Houston, face-to-face during Final Four weekend.
PASTNER
Very privileged and honored to be the coach at GT, I understand the chair I'll be sitting in and what it means the community and alumni locally and nationally.
I thought BG and his staff did a great job and the culture set forth for the guys here and his staff deserve credit for that and coach Hewitt and coach Cremins, I talked to all three today and had great conversations.
When you are in coaching you want to win a National Championship and have a championship program year in and year out, it is a gold mine here and you can have the highest level of success and that is what excited me. It won't happen overnight, we will have to have patience and we are going to do it the right way and recruit like crazy. We want to target the right GT student athlete and that starts locally, regional, nationally. GT is a national brand, but we want to protect home base. That doesn't mean every prospect in the locale is the right fit for us or them, but we want to build a wall and fence around GA. I want to recruit nationally and GT's academic rep. and the great stuff we can sell in the city.
I just met with the team and a great group of young men who are returning. Lost a lot of scoring and rebounding and stats, a lot of guys will be getting their most minutes this year, it is a new transition and it is part of building to that point of having a championship program, if you can get to the second weekend anything can happen and you can get to the Final Four like Cremins and Hewitt did.
I have great respect for the players here and the players that were here before, because of the former SAs I know GT can compete at a national level. It is as high a level as anyone in the country. We need to get those former players in the mix, we need to utilize the former players. It will take a village, it is not my team, it is our team, the GT community, it is the city's team and we have to all be in hand and hand and foot and foot with the goal of making GT the best program it can be.
It will take time, but we will build a championship program and the fans and city can be proud of our program, it will take multiple recruiting classes with the vision of being a championship program.
ON ASSSISTANTS
I'm not going to rush any hires, want to make the right hires in partnership with MBob, people have called me to say I'm working for one of the best ADs in the country, work with him in partnership with the staff and go through the staff, fine comb everything. I recognize I could be by myself for a short period of time.
ON RECRUITING
I've recruited a lot, the grassroots hoops here are as good as anywhere, NYC, LA, Dallas, Atlanta and the surrounding areas it is a credit to the AAU coaches and the people here.
ON GT SIGNEES
Just got cleared from compliance wise to talk to these guys and we will do everything the right way and instill the right way moving forward. Reach out to the three signees and we don't have a lot of numbers so we need all three to come here and not sure if we will sign anyone else in the 2016 class unless they can help us win. Will see who is good enough and can handle the academics. If a guy doesn't show we will see who is out here.
ON ACC TRANSITION COACH WISE
They could go another ten years, two years and when they decide to retire, there programs but won't fall off the map, the challenge is selling and vision of competing at the highest level and you want to compete at the highest level, with the best league and TV package and GT gives prospects that option, prospects can put a stamp on it and put it back at a high level and we have opportunities here, the whole part of the job, the academic piece is a strong part of this.
ON MEMPHIS
I loved my time there and 7 years, followed coach Cal, had the greatest run of wins in recent histories and intense situation there and got better as a coach, I loved my time and had a great experience there and the things
ON ROSTER TURNOVER
Last year over 700 transfers and close to 900 this year, evolution of college basketball and sometimes in this day and age, a young man doesn't feel like he is playing enough and the academic piece for the SA, but they are committed to the academic piece and it is a two-pronged thing and that excites me.
ON MEMPHIS STRUGGLES MADE HIM OPEN TO LOOK AROUND
Part of it in Memphis is it is an intense job and understood who I was following and we averaged 24-25 wins a year, Cal averaged 30, when guy had 27 straight wins in front of you, we had an injury or two that hurt us too and a late transfer we would have been in the NCAA tournament. You have to build this from the bottom up and I love the fact in time you can have a championship level program, the build part of it is something that makes me enthused about it.
ON PLAYING STYLE
CBG is a great basketball mind and a great coach, well-prepared and coached,
