Report: Georgia Tech fires head coach Josh Pastner

Georgia Tech has fired men’s basketball head coach Josh Pastner following the conclusion a 15-18 campaign this season, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported on Friday. The news comes just two days after the Yellow Jackets were bounced from the ACC Tournament by Pittsburgh in an 89-81 second-round loss on Wednesday. He posted a middling 109-113 record through seven seasons with the program.

Following a successful seven-year stint at Memphis, Pastner arrived in Atlanta in 2016 to restore a program that had missed the NCAA Tournament for six straight seasons. After taking Tech to the NIT championship in his first season, the Jackets quickly regressed back into mediocrity, posting back-to-back losing campaigns for the next two years. Off the court, the program would come under NCAA investigation for recruiting violations and would be handed a postseason ban in 2020 (ultimately rendered moot by the pandemic).

Pastner and the Jackets would find success during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 campaign, winning an abbreviated ACC Tournament and earning an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, they immediately slid back with a 12-20 season the following year and another below .500 campaign this season ultimately triggered his ouster.

Georgia Tech will now search for a head coach that can turn them into a consistent NCAA Tournament presence for the first time since the Paul Hewitt-era of the 2000’s.