I don't think it's a "playing it safe" hire, because Pastner has never recruited without a HOF coach to package, and he's never been an in-game coach since AAU days (in high school).

He's a super-star potential, but he could be Steve Lavin @ UCLA.

As our search got desperate fans and former players started pushing Paster to be named head coach at Arizona.

I was against that in favor of the bottom 2nd tier and top 3rd tier names out there because of the risk factor (and I didn't think he could deliver his top prospects out to Arizona).

He's a much safer fit for Memphis though, because these guys were already planning to attend Memphis.

I'm rooting for him, though!

He's a total prodigy, no joke. He was giving a coaching scholarship at Arizona. A roster spot taken from a basketball player and given to a kid who sucked ass as a player, simply because he was a coaching savant.

He developed a scoring system his freshman season that helped players to compete against each other to perfect their "little things" during practice in those (ie, correct positioning for rebounds, boxing out, shot selection, etc.) .

He worked with Mike Bibby so often that Bibby asked him to quit school as a Sophomore and become his personal coach when he was drafted.

He graduated college in 2.5 years and got his first masters degree in 3.5 years. All which coaching and traveling as a player.

Kid is a freak. Memphis is the perfect spot for him to gain experience (and risk destroying your program if he can't run a team).

No shit?!

Steve Lavin got UCLA to 5 SS's and one EE. So if Pastner turnout to be "a Lavin", that ain't bad. (Although I wasn't sure if you were being serious).

Good call.

Who is Jim Roseborough/Sean Miller/Josh Pastner/

Here's my AH imitation: Who is Penny Hardaway?

Apparently, Penny was interested in being an assistant a while back, but he and Calipari didn't really mesh well as people so it never happened.

Quite serious. Lavin recruited all world talent. #1 class after #1 class. Started almost every year in the Top 5 or 10 based on talent alone.

But was very inconsistent throughout the season. He managed to pull it together for a couple wins against vastly less talented teams, in the tourney, but his teams too often played to the talent level and lost to bad teams.

He was a really good guy, who recruited like hell at UCLA, but wasn't the sort of teacher who could bring them together. He was fired after a disasterous year.

I'd be interested to see what he could do with a 2nd shot in a different environment. People grow, he has the potential to be a great coach.

So it that a done deal, or just speculation at this point?

Speculation, but from a pretty solid source.

Very well-sourced from a variety of places, but nothing official just yet.

And agreed on Lavin. UCLA should be the easiest job in the world, and that's how Howland is making it look. Lavin is a complete moron, which is why I think Pastner should fare much better.