Former Wildcat Josh Pastner enjoying opportunity to 'recenter' as broadcaster

Josh Pastner is doing a different form of scouting this season, but he still came up with the correct analysis last weekend.

While Purdue star center Zach Edey was an obvious source of focus leading up to Arizona’s Top-3 showdown with Purdue last Saturday in Indianapolis, the former player and longtime coaching aide at Arizona warned about another area on the floor during an interview with the Star last week and as an analyst on Peacock’s pregame show.

“Look, (Edey) is going to have a big game and he’s playing against (UA’s Motiejus) Krivas and (Oumar) Ballo — that’s going to be a great matchup,” Pastner said before the game. “But it really comes down to the guard play, and really comes down to Braden Smith and (Fletcher) Loyer. Those two guys against Arizona’s guards.”

On Saturday in Indianapolis, Loyer had 27 points while making 5 of 9 3-pointers, and Smith had 26 while hitting 4 of 7 3s. Edey had 22 … and Purdue won 92-84 over the then-No. 1 Wildcats.

It’s the sort of analysis that Pastner is now being paid to deliver to fans instead of players. The head coach at Memphis for seven years and then at Georgia Tech for another seven, Pastner was fired last spring after the Yellow Jackets went 15-18 last season. He is now working Big Ten studio shows for NBC’s streaming service while also working games in person for ESPN and CBS Sports Network.

The former UA walk-on and longtime aide to Lute Olson remains based in Atlanta along with wife Kerri and their four children: Daughters Payten (13), Kamryn (11) and Harper (8), along with son Cason (2). From there, Pastner commutes to NBC/Peacock studios in Stamford, Conn., and to whatever game he is assigned.

He spoke to the Star before last week’s game about broadcasting, coaching and life.

There was speculation last spring you’d get right back into coaching. Did you consider that or want to take a year off and do something like this?

A: “You know what? I had some chances to get back in as a head coach right away, and I elected not to. I wanted to take a year and really kind of recenter, and I was excited about trying to do television. I reached out to people on my own. Some networks had seen me do things before and were interested. But it also gave me the chance to be around my kids as much as I can. Because when I was the head coach for a long time, I was gone a lot of times and I was trying to win games.

“It’s been good to be able to be around them whether they’re playing soccer or basketball or volleyball or taking them to school and things that. I’ve enjoyed doing it, and I’ve enjoyed doing the television. I’ve liked it a lot. I’ve been able to see things from a different perspective. Obviously I’m keeping notes from my time as a head coach, things that I thought I did well, things I think that I need to do better at, things that I want to continue to study. I’ve got a long laundry list of things that I need to improve on, so if I get another opportunity as a head coach, it gives me a chance to improve on them.”

Do you look at a game differently when you scout it for TV as opposed to when you did it for Georgia Tech?

A: “There’s two components to that. One is when you’re scouting or preparing for a game as a head coach, the stress level is different because every decision is going to affect winning and losing, which affects your career and livelihood. You know: How do we guard this high ball screen? I mean, you can sit there and spend hours thinking about that. Whereas when you’re preparing for the game (on TV), you say ‘OK, they’re running a high ball screen, and this is probably how the team’s gonna guard it.’ You’re not making the strategic decision on what to do that’s going to affect the outcome of the game or say `Hey, we want to run these three plays today against this defense, we’re switching or something, whatever.’ So it’s different.

“Now, you’ve still got to put the time in to be prepared. It’s not easy being in television, I can tell you all the work it takes behind the scenes, with the host and the producers. But you’re kind of responsible for yourself. You’re not responsible for basically a whole organization and, and so it’s a different level of stress in a sense but it’s still you got to be prepared.”

You’ve always seemed comfortable communicating. Has it been natural for you in that sense?

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A: I’ve kept my personality. Anyone who knows me knows I’m the same guy that was running around in 1997 as the last man on the (Arizona championship) team. I’ve got a little more gray hair and more kids, but besides that, I’m the same. With the appreciation and enthusiasm for life, the enjoyment of being around basketball, being around people, being able to communicate, that’s an enjoyment of mine. I don’t look at it as a stressful situation at all.”

So do you think you could do this for a while or would you want to get back into coaching?

A: “I could be thrilled and excited to run my own program again. Look, we had great success as a head coach for 14 years, my staff, myself, my players. We’ve been able to win championships at two different schools and won a lot of games. But I think I would even be a better head coach in my next opportunity if that were to happen — just based on being off this year, I will be a better head coach.

“However, I love doing the television. Is there a career in it for me? It’d be really cool but that would be for the bosses of the different networks to determine. Same thing about coaching — that’s going to be based on athletic directors and presidents. Once we get to March, if opportunities open up, there will be a clearer picture.”

(San Diego coach and former analyst) Steve Lavin once said the difference between coaching and doing television was that there was a ‘finish line’ to the season in TV because you don’t have recruiting and other year-round responsibilities. But if you get to that finish line how does that work for you?

A: “Coach Lavin is correct. There is a finish line, and you also get to taste your dinner at night when you’re done calling a game on television. When you’re coaching, and you win, you just eat out of joy. If you lose, you don’t even want to eat.

“But I will say this: I have had struggles with the amount of free time that I’ve had. I’ve had to learn how to handle that. I appreciate having a lot more time on my hands but you’re trying to find things to do. As a coach, your calendar was programmed pretty much seven days a week, every month of the year. And if you got to Sunday to relax, it was like it was great and you feel refreshed for Monday. Whereas if you’re doing television, you have a lot more time to kind of catch your breath.”

Looking back on Georgia Tech, were you bitter at all, or did you figure it was maybe time for a change anyway?

A: “No bitterness. I loved my time at Georgia Tech. No question about it. When I took over, it was gonna be a rebuild. I told them it was gonna take five years to get back to the tournament and to compete for an ACC championship and in five years, that’s what we did. (Georgia Tech won the ACC Tournament in 2020-21 too and received a No. 9 NCAA Tournament seed), and we were really good the year before (17-14 in 2019-20) but COVID shut down the tournament. (But two key players left and ) … we just got behind in the NIL. No excuse there’s but things change in the recruiting world in a hurry.”

So now what hits you when you’re watching a guy like (Purdue coach) Matt Painter or (Arizona coach) Tommy Lloyd? Do you file something away that you can maybe incorporate someday?

A: “Absolutely. I’m a big fan of Tommy Lloyd. He’s done a great, great job and (the Purdue-Arizona) game could be a preview of the national championship in April. These two teams are really, really good. They’re really well-coached.

“This has given me a great perspective to see all kinds of different teams obviously not only in Arizona or Purdue, but all kinds of different teams, systems, players. Just seeing actions that you like or that you don’t, and you’re able to hear more on coaches, whether it’s press conferences, podcast, their thoughts on how they handle things. You’re seeing it from a different lens. You’re just able to get a better 30,000-foot view. When you’re coaching, you’re just literally in the forest of it all.”