After a couple of days of speculation, Georgia Tech has made the decision to fire head basketball coach Josh Pastner.
Pastner spent this season on the hot seat and even a good stretch over the final course of the season was not enough to sway Athletic Director J Batt into keeping Pastner for another season and the Yellow Jackets are going to be looking for new leadership to get the program back to winning and competing for NCAA Tournament appearances and ACC titles.
Here is part of Batt's statement following the firing of Pastner:
"We have high expectations at Georgia Tech for all of our sports programs, and it is imperative that our storied men’s basketball program achieves a greater level of success,” Batt continued. “Our men’s basketball program is important to our department and to our institution. We will not shy away from expecting to consistently compete for ACC championships, NCAA Tournament appearances and sustained success. I am confident that with the combined strength of the Institute and our incredible fanbase, as well as the support of our city, we can reach our shared goals.”
So who could Georgia Tech target to be the next head coach of the basketball program? Let's discuss some potential candidates.
Note: This is just speculation and NOT reporting of any candidates.
Pat Kelsey- College of Charleston
One of the names that is going to be mentioned in nearly every college basketball coaching search is going to be College of Charleston's Pat Kelsey.
Kelsey has the Cougars at 31-3 and heading to the NCAA Tournament this season, which is just his second as the head coach. He also was the head coach of Winthrop from 2012-2021 and compiles a 281-186 record while there. College of Charleston has been one of the best stories of this season and it will be interesting to see how far they could potentially go in the Tournament.
According to Zach Klein at WSB Atlanta, that might be Georgia Tech is going to make a run at:
Amir Abdur-Rahim- Kennesaw State
Another school that has had a tremendous season is Kennesaw State, which is going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Owl's head coach is Amir Abdur-Rahim and he is also going to be on the shortlist of head coaches for jobs.
He has done a wonderful job of building up the KSU program since he was hired in 2019 and they have increased their number of wins in each season. He has a chance to be a great recruiter who knows the Atlanta area well and this seems like a natural fit if Batt chooses to go in this direction.
Ron Hunter- Tulane
Another coach that could get consideration is one that has been a coach in the city of Atlanta and had a lot of success. Tulane head coach Ron Hunter is the former coach at Georgia State and he took the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament three times (2015, 2018, 2019) and won a Tournament game in 2015. Hunter is a well-respected coach and I would expect his name to be mentioned plenty in this coaching search.
Hunter was 171-95 at Georgia State and overall, he is 447-330.
Bob Richey- Furman
Another coach that his team heading to the NCAA Tournament this season is Furman's, Bob Richey. Richey has guided the Paladins to their first tournament appearance since 1980 and much like Kelsey and College of Charleston, Furman is going to be a potential cinderella team in this year's Tournament.
Richey has a 138-53 record at Furman and is going to be one of the most talked about coaching candidates around the country. Don't be surprised if his name is connected to this job opening either.
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