UNLV has hired Josh Pastner as the school’s next men’s basketball coach.
He was expected to receive a five-year contract, sources told ESPN.
Pastner was most recently the head coach at Georgia Tech for seven seasons. He led the Yellow Jackets to the ACC tournament championship and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2021. He also was ACC Coach of the Year in 2017.
Before taking over at Tech, Pastner guided Memphis to four NCAA tournaments in seven seasons as the Tigers’ head coach. He won back-to-back Conference USA regular-season titles in 2012 and 2013, completing an unbeaten conference season and going 31-5 overall in 2013.
“This has always been a dream job for me, and I fully recognize the significance of UNLV in the landscape of college basketball,” Pastner said in a statement. “The program holds great importance for both the Las Vegas community and the region, and I am eager to unite Rebel Nation with the goal of restoring the program to national prominence.”
Pastner has been involved in basketball since a young age, publishing a scouting service in Houston at age 13 and coaching one of the teams in his father’s AAU program at 16. He was a walk-on on Arizona’s national championship team in 1997 and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Lute Olson in 2000.
He also spent six seasons as an assistant at Arizona before going to Memphis to spend one season as an assistant coach under John Calipari. When Calipari left for Kentucky, Pastner was promoted to the top job.
At UNLV, Pastner replaces Kevin Kruger, who was fired earlier this month after four seasons. He went 76-55 during his time in Vegas.
