We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to prepare for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack, who talked about winning a school-record 27 games last season and his expectations for this season.
You were a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana in the late-1990s: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was so meticulously detailed in his approach to game preparation as well as at practice every day. He was kind of an “intolerant teacher” who demanded exactness but was an amazing leader.
You spent a few years as head coach at New Orleans from 2007-2011: what impact did Hurricane Katrina have on you and/or your program? I took over the year after Katrina: we were not able to play in our arena and our “offices” were just a little closet. The student body decreased from 23,000 to 10,000: since there were not enough student fees to help support the athletic department they decided to move us out of D-1. Imagine seeing opposing coaches in the handshake line recruiting your players!
As an assistant to Sean Miller at Arizona you helped recruit/develop several future NBA players including Aaron Gordon: how proud were you to see him win an NBA title with Denver a few months ago? It was amazing. I started recruiting him when he was just a high school freshman. He is an incredible player/person.
In 2021 you were named conference COY at UCSB: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was all about the players. We had an All-American in JaQuori McLaughlin and made the NCAA tourney.
In the 2023 Big West tourney you won 3 games in 3 days to clinch your 2nd NCAA tourney bid in 3 years: how were you able to turn things around after 3 straight double-digit conference losses in mid-February? We had a lot of injuries toward the end of the year that really hurt us before we had an incredible turnaround. Once we learned how to play without them we won 7 games in a row including the Big West title game.
In the 2023 NCAA tourney you lost to Baylor: what did you team learn from that loss that you think will help them this year? It gave our younger guys a taste of the NCAA tourney and made us all a really hungry team. We are excited to start this season and get back to that moment.
After winning a school-record 27 games last year (giving you 6 straight winning seasons) you were rumored to be a leading candidate to become head coach at Cal but ended up signing a 5-year contract extension: was there 1 biggest factor in your decision to stick around or was it just as simple as being very happy with the great situation you already have? I talk to FAU coach Dusty May a lot and 1 of the things he often says is, “don’t touch what’s happy”. I am very fortunate to be here and my family and I love Santa Barbara.
Your roster has 6 players from California and 7 players from foreign countries: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have? It is all about getting the best student-athletes who fit our university. We “fish in all territories” (junior college, the transfer portal, etc.) and have a very diverse roster.
1 of those international players (Belgian G Ajay Mitchell) was named conference ROY in 2022 and conference POY/conference tourney MVP/conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2023: is he just another good player or potentially the greatest player in school history or something in between? Ajay is an incredible player and we are really fortunate to have him. He is an even better person, believe it or not, and 1 of the highest character individuals that I have ever coached.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? It is about the “now” and focusing on the present. We never make team goals: it is about being locked into the process and knowing that the results will follow. We just try to take care of business today and control what we can.