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Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner.

Former Arizona Wildcats player and assistant coach Josh Pastner has been cleared of sexual misconduct allegations through an independent investigation paid for by Georgia Tech University.

In January, Pastner filed a lawsuit against Oro Valley residents Ron Bell and Jennifer Pendley, saying that the two had engaged in an unsuccessful months-long blackmail campaign against Pastner, according to Pima County Superior Court records.

In February, Bell and Pendley countersued Pastner, saying the coach sexually assaulted Pendley in 2016 in a Houston hotel room, court records show.

Pastner has adamantly denied the allegations.

In response to Pendley's accusations, Georgia Tech retained a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the situation, Georgia Tech spokeswoman, Laura Diamond, told the Star on Monday.

The law firm, Fisher Phillips, recently issued a final report, saying the investigation revealed that "none of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Josh Pastner are credible," Diamond said.

Georgia Tech's athletic director, Todd Stansbury, has met with Pastner to discuss the results of the investigation and recommendations regarding Pastner's access to the team and team activities, Diamond said.

The 29-page investigative report from Fisher Phillips says that Bell and Pendley's attorney "declined to make them available or otherwise provide any requested information."

"It is highly likely that the allegations of sexual misconduct against Pastner were concocted by Bell, made in bad faith, and asserted only after various other attempts to damage and/or extort Pastner failed," the report says.

Before Georgia Tech, Pastner, 40, coached at Memphis from 2009-16. He spent the 2002-08 seasons as an assistant to Arizona’s Lute Olson. As a player, Pastner was a member of the Wildcats’ 1997 National Championship team.


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Contact reporter Caitlin Schmidt at cschmidt@tucson.com or 573-4191