Friday, 6:27 p.m., from wind-blown Tucson as the clock continues to tick at McKale …
I got a call from a former UA basketball player today (didn’t want his name used). He put together a consortium of ex-Wildcats who were rallying to support Josh Pastner as Arizona’s next head coach.
He gave me the cell numbers of Jason Terry, Luke Walton, Andre Iguodala, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and A. J. Bramlett. Pretty impressive list.
All plan to voice their support of Pastner, speak to Jim Livengood, and make known their feelings. Mike Bibby and Jerryd Bayless are others in the group.
Unfortunately, only Walton, Terry and Bramlett weren’t occupied with current NBA matters Friday and could phone; the others couldn’t immediately be reached.
Walton and Terry are strong in their views that Pastner should be hired. Bramlett probably put it best:
“Josh is going to bring in players, good players, and that’s what they need right now,’‘ he said from Albuquerque. “Josh will hire a strong staff, he’ll surround himself with experience. He knows what to do. I played professionally for 10 years in Europe and I’ve seen what it takes. Josh has what it takes.
“I think Arizona should compete for the Final Four every year, and from a player’s perspective, I know Josh has what it takes to put us in that position.’‘
I suspect that the Pastner-for-Arizona campaign will probably remain in the background while Xavier’s Sean Miller meets with Livengood at the Final Four. After that it’s anyone’s guess.
Here’s what I think has happened: Livengood spoke to Miller’s representatives most of the week, as arranged by Denver Nuggets advance scout Jack Murphy, who is a former UA team manager. Miller and Livengood had their initial conversation at 5 p.m., Thursday, after Livengood received permission from Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski to speak with the Xavier coach.
Maybe Livengood will be able to arrange Miller’s hiring with Pastner as the associate head coach. That would be the ultimate win-win scenario.
In any event, the Miller-to-Arizona bracket has some legs and the Pastner-to-Arizona scenario has support from very prominent UA people. There’s a lot of promise to the whole scene.
Let’s just hope that Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg isn’t a fall-back option that Livengood someday has to consider.
I think people would really embrace a Josh Pastner hire along with a very experienced supporting cast. He is not going to “win the presser” with Miller. At this point he might as well just make a heart-felt hire like Pastner or Pennell because he has already lost his big promise of winning his little presser.
Livengood should not have ran his mouth four months ago. “don’t write checks with your mouth that your @%& can’t cash.
Hiring Josh Pastner would be an unmitigated disaster, but hey, with Livengood, I could see this happening, we’d never recover.
While I think Josh is a great guy, he is more of a ball rustler than a coach.
He didn’t bring in any recruits of note. Unless you cound Jawann McClelland and Nic Wise. But the Gilbery Arenas’ and Richard Jeffersons of the world were recruited by Lute and the older assistant staff members.
Josh as HC at UA is a horrendous idea. I’d rather see Reggie Geary as head coach. Geary’s paid his dues, Josh has not.
I think Pastner, because of his love for Arizona, is one of the few guys that will be willing to get his face kicked in for a year or two before this thing gets turned around. Remember, with the types of recruits that Pastner can get, it doesn’t take long to return a team to greatness. You only need 7-8 guys. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Pastner was able to pull one of Calipari’s Memphis recruits away. Pastner recruited them anyway. This sales pitch would be easy. Come to UA and be the guy instead of being the 4th or 5th guy at Kentucky…
Amen #2 – I’m sure Josh is a great guy and someday he might be equipped to be a head coach here. But he has Lavin written all over him. His only head coaching experience was with an AAU team. Your a parent of a top recruit and you are going to send your son to play for Josh over Howland, Montgomery, Romar and even Floyd? Don’t think so. Let Josh become a head coach at some mid major program to cut his teeth. This entire hiring process is a debacle. If Livengood can’t get a top level experienced coach by this weekend he should be canned and start the process over again with a new AD. And no settling for Randy Bennett or Lon Krueger.
1) Miller is not even going to the Final Four.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/287271.php
2) Bobinski told Andy KAtz today that Arizona hasn’t contacted him and he doesnt see Miller headed West.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4040990&name=marchmadness
Josh has the passion to coach Arizona basketball. He came to UofA to learn how to coach from one of the best. He is Arizona blood and he can recruit. Hey Jim, he is the future of DIV1 basketball coaching and he is right under your nose. Don’t let him slip away. Who cares about the consecutive ncaa tournament appearances,the odds for next year are close to nil so lets build the future of Arizona basketball now!!!!!!!!!!!!
To save the program from further embarassment, the right hire now is Pastner. He has the support of former UA players and would get the support of the Zona-nation. I like a staff of Pastner, Rosborough, Simon, and Geary.
Why not hire any of you out there, you have passion for UA basketball, by your measure, that is the reason to hire Pastner, might as well hire one of us then too.
This from Paola Boivin who is covering the final four in Detroit, apparently everyone outside of Arizona seems to think UA is screwing up this hire:
Final Four buzz: Arizona slow on hiring
Arizona’s coaching search is causing quite the buzz here in Detroit.
It’s not just talk about potential candidates. It’s confusion why this job isn’t already filled since the university has had the five months since Lute Olson’s retirement to work on it.
Just because a potential candidate is coaching doesn’t mean information can’t be exchanged. That’s one reason athletic departments hire search firms. Intermediaries, too, can gauge interest.
One coach told me today that, before he was hired, an A.D. called him and said, “Hey, I see you’re going to be in Minneapolis next week. I’m going to be there, too. Want to meet just to say ‘hi’ ?” The job was never mentioned. The implication was obvious, however.
We know Rick Pitino and Tim Floyd are out. Add Mark Few to that list. Few isn’t all that anxious to leave Gonzaga and if he does, it would be for a bigger program in the Pacific Northwest that offers the right kind of contract.
Names that are floating around the Final Four today: Xavier’s Sean Miller and Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg, a former head coach at Long Beach State.
That’s one pretty gutsy former Arizona player who calls Greg Hansen as shill for other former players, providing telephone numbers and so forth.
But he didn’t want his name used?
That’s strange enough.
But stranger yet, some of those players named by Greg Hansen barely completed one year studies at the UofA before bolting to the NBA.
And now those same players, a few who possibly earned perhaps 20 units in Family Studies, presume to know enough about executive management skills at a high-end basketball program to recommend a replacement for a Hall of Fame Coach?
Josh Pastner hasn’t coached a single D-1 basketball game. His record recruiting big men for the front court was an unmitigated disaster.
At least three Houston Hoops players were suspended for academic difficulties – one of those was involved (along with with a team mate who later transfered to a Florida school) in a very tawdry episode at a sorority house.
That’s an example of a great recruiting record?
Josh Pastner personally jerry-rigged a phony graduate-level course for Chris Rodgers – colluding with the acting head of the Philosophy Dept. The fraudulent attempt to subvert “independent studies class caused a huge faculty uproar at the Philosophy Department. Josh Pastner’s fingerprints are all over that embarrassing incident.
Maybe Bibby, Jerryd Bayles, and the others should consider spending their free time and considerable resources finishing their own college degrees, or better yet, and encouraging youngsters to finish school.
In my opinion this is no grass roots campaign.
None other than Josh Pastner and Hal Pastner, working through surrogates like his close associate Jim Storey, owner of the GOazcats fan website are clearly behind this campaign to install Pastner as head coach.
Robert Shelton and Jim Livengood have mismanaged the search to replace Lute Olson.
Knuckle down and do your jobs, Shelton and Livengood. Arizona needs to hire an experienced, seasoned coach as soon as possible.
We centainly don’t need a green-behind-the-ears erstwhile head coach who prefers to leapfrog over the years of experience needed to succeed in any professional career.
Drew doesn’t care one iota what Barnes thinks or says about Baylor recruiting?
Amen to that, and we shouldn’t either.
As it was Rick the, well, you know the rest of the story, who tried to lure Bayless to Austin after the fact, remember?
And it is Scotty who has the cajones to go up against Pearl and Calipari in Tennesse and try to go home to Waco – Waco! – with not one, not two but three of Tennessee’s best ballers anywhere, anytime, anyhow?
Imagine that.
Wait.
Not done.
Homer the Coach’s boy goes up against AD In Red Love’s boy and Miller’s big brother Herbert and wins.
Big time.
Enough said.
But not really.
Question: Can Josh get in the face of Zane, Horne, Judkins or others needing someone to coach them a new, uh, attitude?
Something that’s badly – B-A-D-L-Y – needed.
And I’m a little miffed at Bramlett and others who come at this with that Pastner will recruit and sign and bring in top players mumbo jumbo.
What happened to the recruiting and signing and bringing in of Houston area big, bad boys of roundball Ebi, (Darryl) Arthur, Johnson, etc, etc, etc?
Never happened but the No-Doze-ing mini-legend somehow lives on.
Olson, in his state of compromised faculties but with still the ability to judge talent, somewhat, God bless him, even was at wits end near the end and replaced JP with Dunlap and Pennell, for goodness sake.
You know, I like the kid, but how in the world is this going to work?
Or look after 2, 3, years and we’re struggling to bring top players in, struggling to put a winning team on the floor and, never mind the press conference, but strugglling in vane to look respectable again?
“Nineteen and 12 and barely Dancing never looked so good” is not something I’m looking forward to saying.
That Drew can go into Raleigh, NC – smack-dab in ACC territory – and this boldly try to pluck a plumb, a PG stud, tells me a lot.
UA is PG U, and if Drew can do this from Waco, why not in the PAC-10, at the premiere PG factory in basketball – Arizona?
One man’s Top 3 now that the dust has settled, somewhat:
1) Drew
2) Miller
3) Theus
4) Pastner
And please, Livengood, don’t bring that lame junk from St. Mary’s or VCU around here.
We don’t need it.
As you can see, I’ve given up on the likes of Izzo, Dixon or Capel.
Ain’t gonna happen, it’s plain to see.
But the first thing I do if I’m the new coach, whoever that happens to be, is take those 5 or 6 2009-10 schedule slots still open and fill them with Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan St., Pittsburgh, Villanova, Oklahoma and/or Gonzaga.
And just for good measure, or the fun of it, I say he revive the Arizona-Object of Dookie V’s Drool Home-and-Home Show.
And all on the Eastern-biased to Sell Punks Network.
Well…he might want to wait a couple of years, on second thought.
Josh Pastner has my vote for head coach. I don’t know how to coach a basketball team, so I rely on those that do. When an array of former Basketcats line up in support of Josh Pastner, that’s good enough for me. He’s young, amazingly dedicated and has a decades long prognosis of leading the team into another lifetime of success. I trust the judgment of the players more than Livengood’s.
You asked, “Who cares about the Philosophy Department?”
Well okay. Maybe you have a point.
Josh should have shmoozed with one of the department heads in the College Engineering to finagle the phony “independent studies” class for Chris Rodgers.
Better yet … why not cop a phony “independent studies” class deal for Rodgers with the head of the Family Studies Department?
After all, Josh should be well-known there as their Boy Wonder.
Besides, everyone knows Family Studies (formerly known as the Home Economics Department, is famed for its, uhhh, challenging curriculum.
The precocious Josh Pastner has shlepped to every national media type who will listen that he earned his B.A. degree in 2 1/2 years.
Never mind JP avoids mention his degree major was in Family Studies.
Oy, Josh gives new meaning to the Yiddish term blozn fun zikh.
Pastner in a few years…the time is not now for him to become HC…someday though.
Hansen, how are you reporting all this Miller info when the stuff being put out by your colleague Bruce Pascoe and many other media outlets counters you claims about UA contact with Miller?
So Livenchump has had 5 months minimum to at least send out feelers but as he sits in his hotel room in Detroit he’s waiting for a call back from Miller. Miller and the other top prospects should have been contacted behind the scenes months ago to guage their interest. Now, we play the role of the desperate suitor hoping Miller and the rest see past all the warts. Why do you think Kentucky put their money where their mouth is and got their deal done in two days! Now the AZ HC job is everyone’s leverage to get a new deal before our dumba$$ AD has even had the chance to sell the job. We will find out Sunday that Xavier has bumped up Miller’s contract and we’ll get bumped down another notch. Livenchump is a disaster and, if he doesn’t deliver Miller, needs to be left on the curb in Detroit.
Can’t believe Pastner’s name is even being bandied about. You gotta be kinding me and I’ll leave it at that.
I’m usually a patient person, but my patience has just about run out because of this fiasco.
I still don’t see how any of Livengood’s supposed first choices would have “fit” in the Old Pueblo — Pitino? Calapari? Few (who everyone knows is waiting for the UO job to open)? Floyd? None of those guys are right, regardless of their basketball or recruiting prowess.
Time to tune into UA football — that in and of itself sums it up.
I don’t think Mike Stoops was ever a head coach before he was hired at Arizona. I think Pastner would be a tremendous hire. I don’t think Miller, Theus, or freaking GREENBERG, could do any more than Pastner could.
Pastner would better serve himself by becoming a head coach at a mid-low level major school. This would give him a chance to strengthen his resume and actually get some head coaching experience. At least Reggie Theus was a successful head coach at New Mexico State.
Who did Pastner really recruit? Those players came here to play for Lute, not Pastner.
Ok, then throw out a logical choice. Miller? Nope. Theus, said to have “no chance.” Greenberg? Why??? Dude, we don’t have options here! Livenbad Fubared this.
I would bring KO back or offer my 16 year old who is very athletics before agreeing to Josh, I feel my child is more qualified because he is more athletic.
When is Pastner going to stop his self promotion campaign. Is he asking former players for pay back for slackness he allowed them or the goodies he offered that were off limits? No self respecting player would vouch for man who has never taken a snap as quarter back even for 5 minutes?
Greg, can you put a stop to this? You knew KO better then many. Why was he against Pastner because I presumed he sucked as an assistant and he and Simon were not qualified and were not doing their jobs?
Now I have a lot more respect for KO ‘the obnoxious’ because all things he said came true even though we all hated him but he was truly a professional coach.
Ray, ok, that’s just absurd… your son, maybe. But KO, never!
Dude, Pastner did not suck as an assistant! Would some of you who thinks he suck please explain why the highest paying college basketball job—Kentucky—brought him on board? Calipari took him with him! Saying “he sucked as a player” is about as bad as an argument that can be made. There are coaches that never even played the sport they coach—Sonny Dykes—and are awesome coaches! It is well known that Josh is a friggin guru, and a work aholic. I think he would struggle for 3 or 4 years, but once his recruiting class was in place and he got his experience, he could potentially dominate! No joke. I know everyone is going to say we don’t have 3 to 4 years, well, yes we do. We don’t have a choice. Nobody is going to turn this around any sooner. That is why so many are saying “no way!” to this job.
If everyone thinks we are going to get some coach that is going to keep the streak alive, come back to reality, Shumpert may start next year… We win like 10 games next year no matter WHO is coaching.
Dude, this is ridiculous. I would rather have Steve Lavin than Pastner. Are you serious, Hansen? Are you sure that they are not pulling a fast one here?
Russ…Josh no question was hard working but there has been people before him at the UA who busted their but and made this program what it is and Josh came when fruit was already ripe and did no outstanding achievement. what matters is results and now JL results suck so did Josh ‘s. He may be great as you say but I would offer this job to Dunlap any day because he proved to be a champion level coach and I don’t like how Josh is busy in self promotion all the time as their has never been a competent assistant or a better recruitment coah before him. Kerr has a lot better record then him but he is not asking anyone to go and get me the job as Pastner is. He went to Kentucky because of Calipari. He can take any of assistants and I am sure most will go.
Ko was one hell of assistant to LO in 80’s and did much better work then Pastner. I was there and I know.
People who were around KO and LO are better able yo assess his skill then you and I can. LO hire Dunlap and not Josh at the end to replace him.
The U of A needs to step up to the plate and get the boosters like Ol“Jim and Donald and All those who sit right behind the bench in million dollar row, to pony up the big time cash and go out and get a Top veteran coach. There are some NBA coaches that could come in and fill the bill…but what ever you do?…don’t ever mention the name Steve Kerr…..Just look at what he has done to the Phx. Suns. I wouldn’t put much stock in what any of the past U of A players have to say, only a few really stayed here for over two years anyway….U of A needs to make a statement, and bring in a top two or three head coach and pay the dollars to him…we can afford it,hey…you go get Jim Click and Donald Diamond and maybe a George Kalil and have them write the check, they have the money…george can just charge another dime or to to his soda and Jim Click can just raise the Book hour rate on his service drives at everyone of his dealerships and Ol’ Donald…who ownes all of the foothills, well, he can just write the check..he’s already made his fortune…..we have the money…just go get the coach…this isn’t about the Dolars…we have the Dollars….like Nike….Just Do It….Mr. Basketball
I think people would really embrace a Josh Pastner hire along with a very experienced supporting cast. He is not going to “win the presser” with Miller. At this point he might as well just make a heart-felt hire like Pastner or Pennell because he has already lost his big promise of winning his little presser.
Livengood should not have ran his mouth four months ago. “don’t write checks with your mouth that your @%& can’t cash.
— russ 04/03/2009 06:49 PM #
Hiring Josh Pastner would be an unmitigated disaster, but hey, with Livengood, I could see this happening, we’d never recover.
While I think Josh is a great guy, he is more of a ball rustler than a coach.
He didn’t bring in any recruits of note. Unless you cound Jawann McClelland and Nic Wise. But the Gilbery Arenas’ and Richard Jeffersons of the world were recruited by Lute and the older assistant staff members.
Josh as HC at UA is a horrendous idea. I’d rather see Reggie Geary as head coach. Geary’s paid his dues, Josh has not.
— Steal Your Face 04/03/2009 07:44 PM #
I think Pastner, because of his love for Arizona, is one of the few guys that will be willing to get his face kicked in for a year or two before this thing gets turned around. Remember, with the types of recruits that Pastner can get, it doesn’t take long to return a team to greatness. You only need 7-8 guys. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Pastner was able to pull one of Calipari’s Memphis recruits away. Pastner recruited them anyway. This sales pitch would be easy. Come to UA and be the guy instead of being the 4th or 5th guy at Kentucky…
— Portland Catfan_#2 04/03/2009 09:10 PM #
Amen #2 – I’m sure Josh is a great guy and someday he might be equipped to be a head coach here. But he has Lavin written all over him. His only head coaching experience was with an AAU team. Your a parent of a top recruit and you are going to send your son to play for Josh over Howland, Montgomery, Romar and even Floyd? Don’t think so. Let Josh become a head coach at some mid major program to cut his teeth. This entire hiring process is a debacle. If Livengood can’t get a top level experienced coach by this weekend he should be canned and start the process over again with a new AD. And no settling for Randy Bennett or Lon Krueger.
— Bay Cat 04/03/2009 09:19 PM #
Better check your reporting, Hansen.
1) Miller is not even going to the Final Four.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/287271.php
2) Bobinski told Andy KAtz today that Arizona hasn’t contacted him and he doesnt see Miller headed West.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4040990&name=marchmadness
— Muskie eD 04/03/2009 09:39 PM #
Josh has the passion to coach Arizona basketball. He came to UofA to learn how to coach from one of the best. He is Arizona blood and he can recruit. Hey Jim, he is the future of DIV1 basketball coaching and he is right under your nose. Don’t let him slip away. Who cares about the consecutive ncaa tournament appearances,the odds for next year are close to nil so lets build the future of Arizona basketball now!!!!!!!!!!!!
— mike kennedy 04/03/2009 09:44 PM #
To save the program from further embarassment, the right hire now is Pastner. He has the support of former UA players and would get the support of the Zona-nation. I like a staff of Pastner, Rosborough, Simon, and Geary.
— H '97 04/03/2009 10:33 PM #
Why not hire any of you out there, you have passion for UA basketball, by your measure, that is the reason to hire Pastner, might as well hire one of us then too.
This from Paola Boivin who is covering the final four in Detroit, apparently everyone outside of Arizona seems to think UA is screwing up this hire:
Final Four buzz: Arizona slow on hiring
Arizona’s coaching search is causing quite the buzz here in Detroit.
It’s not just talk about potential candidates. It’s confusion why this job isn’t already filled since the university has had the five months since Lute Olson’s retirement to work on it.
Just because a potential candidate is coaching doesn’t mean information can’t be exchanged. That’s one reason athletic departments hire search firms. Intermediaries, too, can gauge interest.
One coach told me today that, before he was hired, an A.D. called him and said, “Hey, I see you’re going to be in Minneapolis next week. I’m going to be there, too. Want to meet just to say ‘hi’ ?” The job was never mentioned. The implication was obvious, however.
We know Rick Pitino and Tim Floyd are out. Add Mark Few to that list. Few isn’t all that anxious to leave Gonzaga and if he does, it would be for a bigger program in the Pacific Northwest that offers the right kind of contract.
Names that are floating around the Final Four today: Xavier’s Sean Miller and Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg, a former head coach at Long Beach State.
Stay tuned.
— Steal Your Face 04/03/2009 10:38 PM #
That’s one pretty gutsy former Arizona player who calls Greg Hansen as shill for other former players, providing telephone numbers and so forth.
But he didn’t want his name used?
That’s strange enough.
But stranger yet, some of those players named by Greg Hansen barely completed one year studies at the UofA before bolting to the NBA.
And now those same players, a few who possibly earned perhaps 20 units in Family Studies, presume to know enough about executive management skills at a high-end basketball program to recommend a replacement for a Hall of Fame Coach?
Josh Pastner hasn’t coached a single D-1 basketball game. His record recruiting big men for the front court was an unmitigated disaster.
At least three Houston Hoops players were suspended for academic difficulties – one of those was involved (along with with a team mate who later transfered to a Florida school) in a very tawdry episode at a sorority house.
That’s an example of a great recruiting record?
Josh Pastner personally jerry-rigged a phony graduate-level course for Chris Rodgers – colluding with the acting head of the Philosophy Dept. The fraudulent attempt to subvert “independent studies class caused a huge faculty uproar at the Philosophy Department. Josh Pastner’s fingerprints are all over that embarrassing incident.
Maybe Bibby, Jerryd Bayles, and the others should consider spending their free time and considerable resources finishing their own college degrees, or better yet, and encouraging youngsters to finish school.
In my opinion this is no grass roots campaign.
None other than Josh Pastner and Hal Pastner, working through surrogates like his close associate Jim Storey, owner of the GOazcats fan website are clearly behind this campaign to install Pastner as head coach.
Robert Shelton and Jim Livengood have mismanaged the search to replace Lute Olson.
Knuckle down and do your jobs, Shelton and Livengood. Arizona needs to hire an experienced, seasoned coach as soon as possible.
We centainly don’t need a green-behind-the-ears erstwhile head coach who prefers to leapfrog over the years of experience needed to succeed in any professional career.
— JoseS 04/03/2009 10:43 PM #
Who cares about the Philosophy Department?
— Portland Catfan_#2 04/03/2009 11:19 PM #
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/03/memphis-tigers-next-target-said-be-baylors-scott-d/
Drew can go against ACC for top PG?
Drew doesn’t care one iota what Barnes thinks or says about Baylor recruiting?
Amen to that, and we shouldn’t either.
As it was Rick the, well, you know the rest of the story, who tried to lure Bayless to Austin after the fact, remember?
And it is Scotty who has the cajones to go up against Pearl and Calipari in Tennesse and try to go home to Waco – Waco! – with not one, not two but three of Tennessee’s best ballers anywhere, anytime, anyhow?
Imagine that.
Wait.
Not done.
Homer the Coach’s boy goes up against AD In Red Love’s boy and Miller’s big brother Herbert and wins.
Big time.
Enough said.
But not really.
Question: Can Josh get in the face of Zane, Horne, Judkins or others needing someone to coach them a new, uh, attitude?
Something that’s badly – B-A-D-L-Y – needed.
And I’m a little miffed at Bramlett and others who come at this with that Pastner will recruit and sign and bring in top players mumbo jumbo.
What happened to the recruiting and signing and bringing in of Houston area big, bad boys of roundball Ebi, (Darryl) Arthur, Johnson, etc, etc, etc?
Never happened but the No-Doze-ing mini-legend somehow lives on.
Olson, in his state of compromised faculties but with still the ability to judge talent, somewhat, God bless him, even was at wits end near the end and replaced JP with Dunlap and Pennell, for goodness sake.
You know, I like the kid, but how in the world is this going to work?
Or look after 2, 3, years and we’re struggling to bring top players in, struggling to put a winning team on the floor and, never mind the press conference, but strugglling in vane to look respectable again?
“Nineteen and 12 and barely Dancing never looked so good” is not something I’m looking forward to saying.
Ever.
— Carlos 04/04/2009 12:06 AM #
Sorry, that should be vain, not vane.
That Drew can go into Raleigh, NC – smack-dab in ACC territory – and this boldly try to pluck a plumb, a PG stud, tells me a lot.
UA is PG U, and if Drew can do this from Waco, why not in the PAC-10, at the premiere PG factory in basketball – Arizona?
One man’s Top 3 now that the dust has settled, somewhat:
1) Drew
2) Miller
3) Theus
4) Pastner
And please, Livengood, don’t bring that lame junk from St. Mary’s or VCU around here.
We don’t need it.
As you can see, I’ve given up on the likes of Izzo, Dixon or Capel.
Ain’t gonna happen, it’s plain to see.
But the first thing I do if I’m the new coach, whoever that happens to be, is take those 5 or 6 2009-10 schedule slots still open and fill them with Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan St., Pittsburgh, Villanova, Oklahoma and/or Gonzaga.
And just for good measure, or the fun of it, I say he revive the Arizona-Object of Dookie V’s Drool Home-and-Home Show.
And all on the Eastern-biased to Sell Punks Network.
Well…he might want to wait a couple of years, on second thought.
— Carlos 04/04/2009 01:04 AM #
Josh Pastner would be a horrible choice for this position.
I’m amazed at the naivette of some cat fans. Do you realize you’re advocating the promotion of someone who has never been a head coach at any level?
The UA deserves better than crazy names thrown at it by the Star’s lead opinion columnist.
I say “no” to Josh Pastner, if you expect to have an elite program, you go after the best coach available, not sentimental walk-ons.
Hansen, you are as pathetic as Livengood!
— Seth 04/04/2009 01:36 AM #
Josh Pastner has my vote for head coach. I don’t know how to coach a basketball team, so I rely on those that do. When an array of former Basketcats line up in support of Josh Pastner, that’s good enough for me. He’s young, amazingly dedicated and has a decades long prognosis of leading the team into another lifetime of success. I trust the judgment of the players more than Livengood’s.
— Ricardo Small 04/04/2009 06:26 AM #
I would love to see Josh as our HC.
IN 5-10 YEARS!!!
Seriously people. Its not time to panic and sell the farm.
— Chi_cat 04/04/2009 08:14 AM #
No.10 Portland_Catfan#2
You asked, “Who cares about the Philosophy Department?”
Well okay. Maybe you have a point.
Josh should have shmoozed with one of the department heads in the College Engineering to finagle the phony “independent studies” class for Chris Rodgers.
Better yet … why not cop a phony “independent studies” class deal for Rodgers with the head of the Family Studies Department?
After all, Josh should be well-known there as their Boy Wonder.
Besides, everyone knows Family Studies (formerly known as the Home Economics Department, is famed for its, uhhh, challenging curriculum.
The precocious Josh Pastner has shlepped to every national media type who will listen that he earned his B.A. degree in 2 1/2 years.
Never mind JP avoids mention his degree major was in Family Studies.
Oy, Josh gives new meaning to the Yiddish term blozn fun zikh.
— JoseS 04/04/2009 08:54 AM #
I sure agree with Carlos here. BTW Greg, did Billy Gillespie catch the plague with Ky.
— Larry 04/04/2009 09:23 AM #
Pastner in a few years…the time is not now for him to become HC…someday though.
Hansen, how are you reporting all this Miller info when the stuff being put out by your colleague Bruce Pascoe and many other media outlets counters you claims about UA contact with Miller?
— Darren 04/04/2009 09:46 AM #
So Livenchump has had 5 months minimum to at least send out feelers but as he sits in his hotel room in Detroit he’s waiting for a call back from Miller. Miller and the other top prospects should have been contacted behind the scenes months ago to guage their interest. Now, we play the role of the desperate suitor hoping Miller and the rest see past all the warts. Why do you think Kentucky put their money where their mouth is and got their deal done in two days! Now the AZ HC job is everyone’s leverage to get a new deal before our dumba$$ AD has even had the chance to sell the job. We will find out Sunday that Xavier has bumped up Miller’s contract and we’ll get bumped down another notch. Livenchump is a disaster and, if he doesn’t deliver Miller, needs to be left on the curb in Detroit.
— Colorado Mark 04/04/2009 10:16 AM #
Can’t believe Pastner’s name is even being bandied about. You gotta be kinding me and I’ll leave it at that.
I’m usually a patient person, but my patience has just about run out because of this fiasco.
I still don’t see how any of Livengood’s supposed first choices would have “fit” in the Old Pueblo — Pitino? Calapari? Few (who everyone knows is waiting for the UO job to open)? Floyd? None of those guys are right, regardless of their basketball or recruiting prowess.
Time to tune into UA football — that in and of itself sums it up.
— CatFanInFlag 04/04/2009 10:56 AM #
I don’t think Mike Stoops was ever a head coach before he was hired at Arizona. I think Pastner would be a tremendous hire. I don’t think Miller, Theus, or freaking GREENBERG, could do any more than Pastner could.
— russ 04/04/2009 11:56 AM #
Pastner would better serve himself by becoming a head coach at a mid-low level major school. This would give him a chance to strengthen his resume and actually get some head coaching experience. At least Reggie Theus was a successful head coach at New Mexico State.
Who did Pastner really recruit? Those players came here to play for Lute, not Pastner.
— AC 04/04/2009 02:18 PM #
Russ,
Get real Josh has much less coaching experience than Stoops did when he got hired. Also, how well has he worked out??
Yeah, lets get a coach thats low on the learning curve for BASKETBALL too! Smart choice!
— Chi_cat 04/04/2009 04:04 PM #
Ok, then throw out a logical choice. Miller? Nope. Theus, said to have “no chance.” Greenberg? Why??? Dude, we don’t have options here! Livenbad Fubared this.
— russ 04/04/2009 04:55 PM #
I would bring KO back or offer my 16 year old who is very athletics before agreeing to Josh, I feel my child is more qualified because he is more athletic.
When is Pastner going to stop his self promotion campaign. Is he asking former players for pay back for slackness he allowed them or the goodies he offered that were off limits? No self respecting player would vouch for man who has never taken a snap as quarter back even for 5 minutes?
Greg, can you put a stop to this? You knew KO better then many. Why was he against Pastner because I presumed he sucked as an assistant and he and Simon were not qualified and were not doing their jobs?
Now I have a lot more respect for KO ‘the obnoxious’ because all things he said came true even though we all hated him but he was truly a professional coach.
— Ray 04/04/2009 07:58 PM #
Ray, ok, that’s just absurd… your son, maybe. But KO, never!
Dude, Pastner did not suck as an assistant! Would some of you who thinks he suck please explain why the highest paying college basketball job—Kentucky—brought him on board? Calipari took him with him! Saying “he sucked as a player” is about as bad as an argument that can be made. There are coaches that never even played the sport they coach—Sonny Dykes—and are awesome coaches! It is well known that Josh is a friggin guru, and a work aholic. I think he would struggle for 3 or 4 years, but once his recruiting class was in place and he got his experience, he could potentially dominate! No joke. I know everyone is going to say we don’t have 3 to 4 years, well, yes we do. We don’t have a choice. Nobody is going to turn this around any sooner. That is why so many are saying “no way!” to this job.
If everyone thinks we are going to get some coach that is going to keep the streak alive, come back to reality, Shumpert may start next year… We win like 10 games next year no matter WHO is coaching.
— russ 04/04/2009 08:44 PM #
Dude, this is ridiculous. I would rather have Steve Lavin than Pastner. Are you serious, Hansen? Are you sure that they are not pulling a fast one here?
— Robert 04/04/2009 10:06 PM #
Russ…Josh no question was hard working but there has been people before him at the UA who busted their but and made this program what it is and Josh came when fruit was already ripe and did no outstanding achievement. what matters is results and now JL results suck so did Josh ‘s. He may be great as you say but I would offer this job to Dunlap any day because he proved to be a champion level coach and I don’t like how Josh is busy in self promotion all the time as their has never been a competent assistant or a better recruitment coah before him. Kerr has a lot better record then him but he is not asking anyone to go and get me the job as Pastner is. He went to Kentucky because of Calipari. He can take any of assistants and I am sure most will go.
Ko was one hell of assistant to LO in 80’s and did much better work then Pastner. I was there and I know.
People who were around KO and LO are better able yo assess his skill then you and I can. LO hire Dunlap and not Josh at the end to replace him.
— Ray 04/04/2009 11:47 PM #
The U of A needs to step up to the plate and get the boosters like Ol“Jim and Donald and All those who sit right behind the bench in million dollar row, to pony up the big time cash and go out and get a Top veteran coach. There are some NBA coaches that could come in and fill the bill…but what ever you do?…don’t ever mention the name Steve Kerr…..Just look at what he has done to the Phx. Suns. I wouldn’t put much stock in what any of the past U of A players have to say, only a few really stayed here for over two years anyway….U of A needs to make a statement, and bring in a top two or three head coach and pay the dollars to him…we can afford it,hey…you go get Jim Click and Donald Diamond and maybe a George Kalil and have them write the check, they have the money…george can just charge another dime or to to his soda and Jim Click can just raise the Book hour rate on his service drives at everyone of his dealerships and Ol’ Donald…who ownes all of the foothills, well, he can just write the check..he’s already made his fortune…..we have the money…just go get the coach…this isn’t about the Dolars…we have the Dollars….like Nike….Just Do It….Mr. Basketball
— Mr. Basketball 04/05/2009 08:34 AM #